5Simply Stunned
Warning:: Contains language and mature themes, but nothing graphic or anything. Just swearing.
Summary:: Rebel girl Fletcher is constantly watching over her best friend, Rose, from the evil species of men. When Rose goes on a date to the mall and Fletcher tags along to keep watch, she ends up meeting her match.
There was a guy checking me out. Normally that wouldn't have bothered me, but today I was not at the mall for boy shopping. Not at all. So I was getting pretty pissed off. He wasn't bad looking, which I should of been proud of, and he wasn't with a girl. In fact, as far as I could gather, he was by himself. Like me, a loser. Though, technically, I was here with two peeps. But that was irrelevant. Finally, sick of feeling exposed, I turned around and shot the guy the finger. No guy would treat me like a piece of meat. Nu-uh.
He didn't even look pissed at me. He smirked, quietly, and began walking towards me, in a slow, loping gait. Damnit. He was coming over. Maybe, I thought, I should make a run for it. Nah, they were still in the store. I couldn't let them out of my sight. Who knew what trouble she would get into with Jasper with out me watching over. Rose lacked self-respect, and there was no way I was letting her get knocked up on my watch. No way, suckers. Which was why I had requested to accompany her on her blind date and keep watch. She had agreed, after about an hours' worth of pestering. Jasper had never met me, so I could quietly watch in the background. If he tried putting the moves on her, he would get bitch-smacked. Cause that is what Fletcher do, I thought with a giggle. Bitch smack.
But that didn't protect me from Mister Smirk coming over. Fuckit. I'll just deal with it, I decided. Might as well have some fun. I gave him a once-over as he came up in front of me and smiled sarcastically. "Yes?" I asked pointedly.
"I was just wondering what a pretty lady was doing all by herself." He asked. Real smooth, I thought to myself. Really. I shook my head, and kept my eyes locked with his in a firm stare.
"Who said I was alone? And I don't see you with anyone." I kept staring him down. He was stubborn. And good looking. Deadly combination, no?
"Looks are deceiving." He grinned at me, showing off his teeth in a friendly gesture. "And, Ms. Observant, I have seen you in every store I have been in the past hour." He grinned, and rattled off a list of the past stores that yes, indeed, I had been in. But only because I had been following Rose. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed him before.
"Oh." was my totally quick-witted come-back.
"Don't worry, you have good choices in stores. It is nothing to be ashamed of." He was still grinning like a damn idiot.
"Really? Cause I was just thinking how sad it was that my style was comparable to yours. Pity. That is depressing." I shrugged.
Instead of being pissed off, he laughed. He fricken' laughed in the middle of the store. At me. I blushed furiously. "Okay, okay, you win. Can I buy you a pretzel? Or do you not eat carbs?" He was still grinning, damnit. And I was getting flustered. Nothing I said phased him.
"Uh..." The pretzel store was next door, and I could watch the exit for Rose and Jasper. There was no other exit for them to escape. They would be in there for a while, too, seeing as it was the Apple Store. And besides, I was hungry. "...Sure..." That was a pretty lame answer, but he took it in strive, bouncing out the door like a puppy.
"I am Blaise, by the way!" he called back to me. I could hear the grin in his voice. I followed behind, slowly. I could not believe I was doing this. So not me. At all. But what the hell? I was 17, screw society. A guy wanted to buy me a pretzel. Ch'yeah. As long as he didn't offer me drugs, or booze, I was good.
We reached the pretzel place, Aunt Anne's, and stood in line. "You know," he stated after a moment of silence. "I still don't know your name." He pursed his lips. "And here I am, buying you a pretzel." Another pointed silence. "One, whole, big pretzel." Another pause. "Three bucks of pretzelly goodness." I crossed my arms and put on my best, I don't care, face. It worked, as he dropped the subject.
He bought two pretzels, and even asked me if I wanted a drink. That was sweet, but if he tried touching me, he was going down. No guy would be getting into my pants. Not today, buddy.
We sat down, and I got a view of the exit. Blaise was chatting amiably about hot dogs or something, and I started to think of him as cute. He had dark hair that fell just so, and he wasn't in skinny jeans. He was in a purple shirt, and converse. He was good looking. And nice. And so what he was slightly sarcastic? That was sexy. He was sexy.
We talked about tons of stuff. I talked, he listened. He laughed, I made a snide comment. He talked, I listened. We laughed, together. It was weird, but I found myself spilling out the most random things to him. Here he was, a perfect stranger, listening without judgement as I criticized everything: from sports to fashion, even my friends. He nodded, sometimes agreeing, sometimes just stating his opinion. In the thirty minutes or so we sat there, I wound up feeling like he was one of my closest friends.
I learned he resented girls for complaining when he stared, because he saw it as a compliment. I learned he was currently single, as girls at his school were "dim witted, big-breasted, whores." I giggled at that one. He learned that I was pissed at guys for treating girls as just eye candy and sex machines. "It's like, if I have sex with a dude, I want to wake up in the morning and talk. About the news, or life in general, or anything." That one made him frown a bit.
We covered girls, guys, crushes. Life, the government. Sarah friggen' Palin. Everything. The only thing we didn't cover was family, which just never came up. I didn't think much of it,, then, though.
Mid way through our conversation about whether or not dogs had umbilical cords, his phone buzzed. Sliding it slowly out of his pocket, he surveyed the screen with calm eyes. Sliding it back in his pocket, he frowned. "My friend is meeting me up across the mall." He nodded slowly. "I gotta book."
I nodded dimly. Going? So soon? Great. "Hey, thanks for the pretzel." I said, not sure what else to say. He picked himself up from his chair and smiled. "Anytime." And before I even knew it, he had leaned over, and kissed me. On the lips. It lasted barely a moment, but it was amazing.
"It was nice talking to you. Hopefully we will meet again." He winked, and I couldn't help but grin. He turned, and started walking away, lifting his hand in parting. This just didn't feel right. I stood up, and ran up behind him, and tapped him on the shoulder.
"My name is Fletcher." I whispered, as he turned around, still grinning. I leaned over, and kissed him on the lips. It was sweeter then the first. "And I always get last word." He nodded, smiling ridiculously. Then he turned, without a word, and disappeared into the crowd.
I stood there for a moment, just soaking it all in. After a few minutes, someone tapped me on the shoulders, and I spun around. It was just Rose. She was smiling, her cheeks flushed. She gestured for us to start walking towards my car.
"Where's Jasper?" I asked, curious. "He had to go." She said, sounding sad. "But we have plans. In fact, I was wondering, do you want to double date with us Friday night? Red Robin?"
"Me?" I smiled, "With who?" There wasn't any guys who would be willing to go out with me. I needed to work on that.
"Jasper's best friend. Good looking guy." Her phone buzzed, and she picked it up, smiling as she read the text. "Yeah. Blaise said he would love to go."
I gulped. "Blaise?" What?! What did she just say?!
"Yeah. That is Jasper's best friend. Apparently he is all up for a date with you, Fletcher." She grinned. "You'll knock him dead. Actually, please don't." She paused for a moment, sadly. "Blaise's little sister just died. So be nice." She sighed. She was such a sweetheart. "Now, care to hear the details of my date?" A sweetheart with ADD. "It was amazing. He is amazing."
And off she started, leaving me barely nodding, simply stunned beyond belief.
Rose and I began to walk to the car. I was still stunned and at a loss of words. I just listened to Rose's endless babble about how Jasper was, and I quote, "Sexyyyy as hell and the sweetest guy ever, and of course how he didn't even grab my boobs. Not once, the whole date." She didn't even notice my lack of participation in this conversation until we were half way to my house. She finally confronted me. "Fletcher, usually you would be nagging me on how much of a slut I am; there is something wrong. Tell me!" I always liked to be very difficult with Rose and never tell her what was on my mind until she nagged me to the point of insanity. So, instead, I just repeated the line I knew she had heard so many times before. "Nothing is wrong. I'm just thinking…"
She looked out the window and in a caring tone asked, "About?" I stopped at a stop sign and looked directly at her, smirking. "Lots of stuff." She shot me a flustered look, because she always wanted to know the truth. Eventually, I knew, she would pry it out of my head. So I decided to give her a taste of the truth. Then I could look forward to the begging for the details that she would crave after she got the bite. "Hmmm, nothing. Just while you were taking pictures with Jasper at the apple store, I met someone. Someone you know, someone hot, and sweet, and yeah… and we might just of kissed a little."
Her eyes widened. "What!? Oh my god, Fletcher, that is so unlike you. Who is the guy? How, what, where? I want details, girl!" I smiled; I knew that she was going to say something along those lines. I whispered over to her, "It's a secret." She gave me yet another flustered look. "Friends tell friend secrets." She proceeded to poke me in the stomach and giggle. I gave her a stern look and she continued on, "Fine. Don't tell me about your mystery man… I just won't tell you about Blaise." she threatened. I smiled to myself and thought to myself with a smirk, "I probably know more about Blaise than you do, sweetheart."
The week went by uneventfully. Our mall date had been on Sunday, and the date would be that Friday. I was so nervous, it was crazy. No guy, I repeat, no guy, had ever come close to making me nervous. EVER! And here I spent less than hour with a boy I hardly even knew, and he couldn't leave my mind. Pathetic, indeed.
Friday's plans were simple. The date was at 6, I would be at Rose's house at 5 to calm her down and make sure she was going in something non-whore like. This meant, among other things, that thick eyeliner, revealing clothes, and teased hair were out of the question. We would car pool, with me driving, to Red Robin. We would meet up with Blaise and Jasper, and we'd eat. Oh my God. So much could go wrong! I was so nervous!
What if it was a different Blaise? No, that was impossible. He had been following Jasper just like I had been following Rose. What if he was a total jerk? And he pretended not to know me? I would play along. What if he didn't know the date was with me? Did Jasper tell him my name? Would he figure it out? So much could go wrong...
I decided not to tell Rose about Blaise until we were on the date. I would casually point out while she stared on, that I had met Blaise at the mall. She would freak out. I would laugh. I laughed just thinking about it. It would be fun.
After the date, sleep over at Rose's. Friday nights are our nights. We'd have to cover everything about Blaise and I, and how the date went. Hopefully way well.
It was Wednesday night. We were at the park, our park, on the swings. Rose was alternating between asking me about my man and talking about hers. Finally, just to shut her up, I decided we could play a game.
"Here's the deal," I started, interrupting her. "I will tell you one thing about my date at the mall for one thing you can tell me about this Blaise guy." I smirked, laughing on the inside. "I will not, however, tell you his identity 'till..." I paused dramatically, "Until we are walking in the doors Friday for our dates. Agree'd?"
She nodded, eager for information. I was eager, too. I wanted to learn about the real Blaise, and if he was truly a nice guy. "Okay, you go first." I motioned to Rose.
"Okay...he is a vegetarian, like you." I gasped a bit at that. He never mentioned it. Hmmm, I'd have to call him out on that when I saw him. If I saw him. I grinned, thinking about him. "Alright. We kissed twice, no tongue, no feeling each other up." I told her.
She screamed. "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" She was spazzing out, and people were staring. Great. After about five minutes of this she finally calmed down enough to squirt out, "Jasper and Blaise have been like this," she crossed her fingers, "for five years. He is 17, your age. NOW TELL ME MORE!"
And so I did. I learned several things that night. Blaise's sister, age 8, died seven months ago and Blaise had run away from home. It was his biggest regret. He loved dogs, hated cats. He enjoyed singing to piss off Jasper. He was a drama student, but straight. For sure straight, she assured me. He wasn't fat, but he wasn't buff either. She didn't know if he had abs, but I didn't care.
In exchange for this information, I told her stuff. How he checked me out, and I shot him the bird. How he was perpetually grinning. Rose didn't know what perpetual meant; I had to explain that it was that he never stopped smiling. No, he didn't go to our school. He had bought me a pretzel. He was funny as hell, if slightly dirty at times. He had hair I wanted to bang.
"He sounds amazing. Jeeze, poor Blaise doesn't stand a chance against him!" She wailed. "Hey," I ventured, "Does he know my name? Did, you know, Jasper tell him?" She shrugged. "Dunno. Why?" "Just curious, I guess..." I trailed off.
What if he was surprised to see me? What if he knew it was me? What if? What if? What if I wanted his babies?! 'Woah, where did that come from.' I thought to myself. 'Jesus Christ.'
Author's Note:: The middle part was written by a friend who, unfortunately, doesn't have an account here. I modeled Rose after her, and Fletcher as my alter-ego. This was just a random piece we came up with; tell us if you like it?