1Take one egotistical, seductive and positively cruel boy, one sarcastic, independent, experienced girl, the school asshole, and a broken wrist, and you might just get this lovely cliché of a bad boy ,meets good girl story.
The Rain Is My Sunshine.
A One shot from a guys point of view.
I watched her everyday. At first I thought she would be like all the others. I would seduce her naive mind into thinking I was there for her, get the goods and leave the body. I thought she would forget me after we had our little fling, and we would never meet up again. She would move on to find a man who would be there for her, for real this time. And I would be free to move onto my next catch.
I had made moves on the copper-haired beauty. Brushed my fingers on her delicate cheekbones, whispered in her ear and walked the opposite direction, leaving her hanging. I'd even left an anonymous note in her locker with simple, seductive lines: meet me at the old oak, so I can once again gaze into your beautiful irises, once again brush my fingers on your delicate skin, once again breathe unspeakable messages in your ear, please, love.
I had a knack for being intriguing. I knew I'd get her with this move.
Next period the same piece of paper was crumpled up and tapped to my locker. "I don't mingle with the dirt on the bottle of my shoe" was penned in delicate print below my original text. There was a lipstick kiss over the word 'mingle'.
That's when I gave up on her. She was much too good for me anyways. I don't think I could live with tainting her perfect soul, anyways. Might as well not bring myself harm.
So I settled for observing her. I watched the way she chewed her sandwich, picked at her fingernails to avoid eye contact, licked her lips and gnawed her long thumbnail, which was decorated a different colour every three days. Currently they were sporting a homemade French manicure, if my nail experience serves me correct.
By the way, that's not a lot, I just have a friend that's a girl who likes to talk, a lot.
"Hello? Jerk-face? HELLO. Stop day dreaming about Reilly and at least comment on the story I'm telling you!" Ms. Talks A Lot slapped my arm playfully.
"Here's a comment: Annoying. Now, was that nagging really worth it?"
"Don't deny that you were daydreaming about Ms. Reilly." cut in ever smug Joesph Baine. Baine is a pain, but I love him like a brother.
"Shut the fuck up and pay attention to your girlfriend." this was actually a good piece of advice for him, since he paid more attention to Ms. Talks A lot (that's Julia Sailes, by the way) then his girlfriend of the moment. Already tired of the banter that was about to start up I walked conspicuously by Lillie Rielly's copper locks that were currently bouncing as she giggled at whatever her friends had said. One of them gave me a solid glare as I walked past, but I ignored it, glancing once more at Lillie then exiting the door to the school courtyard.
Why did she have to be so enticing? I don't even think I ever wanted her to be just another fling. At least, that's what I'm thinking now. I wanted to know her. Know what made her tick. What made her smile and cry. What pissed her off . What her family life was like. Good, or bad? What her lips tasted like.
It was raining outside, not like I cared, I planned on ditching next period anyways before my class with Lillie. I pulled my notebook out, jotting down random nonsense until I heard the muted buzz of the school bell. This meant I now had to elope from school property so none of the teachers would find me and drag my ass back into class. Maybe they'd try detention again. Not like I cared. I'd take the punishment and be on with my life, not that it was likely they'd give me one anymore.
While relocating to a bench off property, I chuckled to myself at the thought that teachers had given up on me. Once the dryness of the shelter covering the bus stop bench welcomed me, I scribbled furiously across the navy lined paper and lost myself in my own thoughts again. I aroused again at the sound of beeping from my watch and quickly packed up, not wanting to arrive too late to Miss. Stadless' class.
Turning various corners and stopping briefly at my locker to grab a sketchbook and charcoal set I power walked to the door and took a deep breathe before entering and slipping into the seat beside Lillie. I flashed her a bright smile and she rolled her eyes, grabbing her book bag and making an attempt to leave when I grabbed her wrist.
"Don't. I'm not all bad, you know. I want to ask you something. But I can't right now because you'll turn me down."
She sighed and nodded, roughly landing back in her seat. When she started chewing on her lip I knew she was nervous.
I didn't want her to be afraid of me. I wanted her to run to me to feel safe. I wanted her to love me like I think loved her. Well maybe not loved. How can you love someone you don't even converse with?
She moved, snapping me from my thoughts. It was a small movement, she slumped in her chair and sighed heavily again, setting her gaze on my eyes.
Why was she looking at me? Oh, fuck. I need to let go of her wrist.
"Sorry," I mumbled as I turned around watching Miss. Stadless enter the room. She smiled at Lillie, her second best student, and stopped straight in her tracks when she saw me sitting beside her. I raised my eyebrows under my brown fringe and looked at her with fake inquisition.
She squinted her eyes at me and I beamed over expressively at her, receiving one of those laughs that are just a smile and a "pft" paired with a roll of the eyes. She continued moving to her desk after our silent 2 second conversation had taken place. Shuffling the papers on her desk around and without looking at me once she let out,
"So, Mr. Vale-en-see, I see you chose to show up without your routine 15-minutes-late?"
"SO, Miss. Stadless I see your still pronouncing my name wrong. I'm sure I've mentioned several times that it's pronounced Val-ein-she. Did it slip your mind?" I was cautious to order my words in a way so that I wouldn't get removed from class. I flashed her a smug smile and she blushed, but turned quickly to the rest of the class, starting with a "Good afternoon." I tuned it out, instead focusing intently on Lillie as she shifted uncomfortably under my tender scrutinizing. She glanced at me every once in a while during the next five minutes and sighed or bit her lip when she realized I was still looking.
I was only preparing for class. And of course I knew what we would be doing. What bad boy cliché would be complete without the dirty habit of looking over the next days plans? Not mine, that's for sure.
Today the assignment was to sketch someone of the opposite sex with charcoal. I was choosing Lillie, of course. I just had to ask first.
I heard the familiar reassurance that class was to officially start and Lillie turned to me immediately. For the first time I heard her voice when it was directed at me. I was let down by the way it sounded, but it was to be expected. Aghast, held back, guarded, frustrated.
"What is it that you needed o' me?" her Irish accent kicked in, it wasn't much of one to taint all her words. But an occasional o' or love would mix in with her delicious speech every three sentences or so.
"The assignment today."
"Yes?" What a fucking idiot I felt like when I realized I hadn't even asked her anything. Hearing your object of affection's voice for the first time (nontechnically) can do that to a guy.
"Uh," I laughed at myself nervously, "Can I do you? Or, I mean, would you be my partner? Uhm," I cleared my throat, it felt like it was closing up on me, "Please?"
She opened her mouth to speak and closed it again. I looked at her hopefully,
"Please."
She nodded, smiling.
"I guess I could sketch you." she laughed somewhat animatedly at herself and whispered something barely intelligible. I caught wisps of it, "The _ Sedu_"
I didn't bother asking what she said, it would probably embarrass her that I had heard her (partially) and I would figure it out when she finished her sketch. She always titled her work, even when we weren't required to.
Unfortunately, we had to for this assignment. I had no idea what I would name it. There were so many words I could use to describe her.
"Do you want to go first?" I asked instead.
She shook her head no and I nodded once, reaching out with the intention of posing her, but I paused once I touched her skin. It was cool and she shivered at my warmer touch. Shit, I forgot to ask her.
"Sorry, I should of asked or something. But I need to pose you if I'm going first. So... may I?" I looked into her eyes, they were moss green with a ring of deep gold playing at the insides and disappearing when her pupils dilated. Small veins of honey leaked through all the way to the blurry grey outline, threatening to take over the mossy colour at any moment. Her eyes were completely unique, and I loved them.
She blushed and nodded yet again. I loved the way she nodded. A tight, flustered movement that could be very apparent or barely noticeable. Her shoulders came up as well as the corners of her mouth. Just a bit, but still enough.
I dropped, rather, tore my gaze from her face and asked her to cross her legs and take off her shoes. She complied and asked "Like this?". I shook my head and lightly tugged her left leg out of the binding so that it rested over her right heel. I lifted her left hand onto the right thigh and told her to grab her left upper arm with her right hand and hug herself. She looked at me asking "Like this?" with her eyes and I smiled in response. I moved to sit at her left and told her to look at me and smile a bit. She complied, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.
"Hmm, is that all of a smile your going to give me? 'Cause that doesn't look very genuine and I know that your real smile is much more beautiful than that wimpy little grin."
Doing exactly what I thought she would, her whole face lit up and before it could disappear I said,
"Perfect! Stay like that, okay?" She nodded, and I moved in to make some minor fixes with her pose, telling her this and that, until she looked even more perfect than before.
Throughout the next forty-five minutes of class I copied her gorgeous face onto the paper before me, using various charcoals I had brought with me and smearing where it was needed. Glancing up every so often, I eventually got lost in my work and the rest of class was a blur until I felt that tingling on my neck. Finishing up her lips I dropped the charcoal into my box and looked over my shoulder for the culprit. I found none other than Miss. Stadless staring intently at me and Lillie. She focused her gaze on me when I turned around and spoke with a smile on her face,
"Very nice, Mr. Vale-en-she, you really capture the happiness on her face, I cannot wait to see her eyes so that I can confirm my assumption that they will show the same glee that shadows the rest of her features."
Choosing not to show that I was proud in any way of her comment, I decided to respond with the way she said my name. Wrong. Again.
"Miss. Stadless, My name is Mr. Valenchi. Say it with me, okay?" she rolled her eyes and nodded.
"Val."
"Val." she repeated
"Ein"
"Ein..." she repeated with uncertainty.
"She."
"She."
"Now the whole thing together, Valenchi. Say it with me now." she followed through the syllables with me and pronounced it with success.
"Now say it by yourself."
"Val-ein-she?" her voice rose, making the enunciation a question, much like how a little 2nd grader would say the newest word in his vocabulary. I nodded that she was correct, and asked her if she minded if I got back to my work. I lost myself yet again in the drawing for the last ten minutes of class. I was almost done, I would bring it home tonight and colour her eyes in detail and shade the rest chaotically. It was my signature style. Focus on one part and be less careful with the rest. And in case you haven't guessed it by now, I'm Miss. Stadless' best student. Lillie is next. That's how I took so much interest in her. I saw her and her gorgeous art everyday.
As the intruding buzz of the warning bell rung in my ears and Miss Stadless tried to get in some words over the "Warning Bell Ruckus" I saw Lillie make a dart for the door and I darted after her, leaving my things at my desk with a quick scribble on a scrap piece of paper "BRB" so that Miss. Stadless wouldn't touch my things.
I walked out into the hall only to see Trent, one of the few guys that Lillie despised, hanging his muscled arm over her shoulder and whispering in her ear. I wasn't stupid, it was obvious that Lillie didn't want to be in that crowd of jocks, as she cringed away from him as far as she could without being impolite.
I quickly made my way over to her and asked her from a safe distance so as not to make her too uncomfortable if I could talk to her.
When she was about to open her mouth Trent spoke for her. Though I hope his response isn't what she would've said.
"Look, emo, Why would Lillie wanna talk to a douche like you? She would much rather be in this position than in one that involved you. Lillie was attempting to protest and I saw her wince and Trent's smile grow at the same time.
He hurt her.
I lost my patience right there, there was no non-violent option anymore. I was only deliberating over a punch in the nose or cheek.
"Did you just hurt her?" My voice was ice.
"Why would you care?" he said with laughter much too loud to be genuine.
"You fucking hurt her." Same icy tone as before.
"Once again, Why should you care?" He hugged her closer to him and she gnawed on her bottom lip, begging me to just leave with those mossy eyes. I sighed. I couldn't hurt Trent with her right there. She looked so fragile, so, I don't know, angelic? God, I sound like a wimp.
Come on, Valenchi, your supposed to be the tough guy. Stop swooning over some girl.
"Alright fine. Trent, I won't punch your face in now, but if I ever see you inflicting any kind of harm to her or any other girl I'll make sure I have a good time painting your face with your own blood." I leaned in close to his face and whispered my last four words to him, making his shoulders tense and his back straighten up. It was to no avail, though, as I was about three inches taller than him. Turning to Lillie I grinned and winked before I jogged back to get my things then took off.
The twenty minute walk home dragged on for what seemed like ever. When I did arrive at home I heard screaming, like usual, and decided to sneak in Jen's bedroom window to avoid abuse. Yah, I come from an abusive family, so sue me. Not everyone has a cookie-cutter life in suburbia.
"Jen" I rapped on her window with cold knuckles for 7 seconds exactly before just deciding to open the window and enter.
I was not expecting what I saw. Scowling, I left the humping couple alone and crossed her room quickly, picking up a CD on the way.
"Yo Matt, skipping again?" spinning on my heel with a finger over my mouth I signalled for my little brother to be quiet. The yelling downstairs had subsided, meaning Kevin would probably beat the shit out of Daniel if he heard him talking. Daniel mouthed "Oops" to me and dragged me into my own room. Locking the door behind him I followed the usual drill and put on the CD I had previously snatched from my sister's room. Cobra Starship had an excellent way of being loud. Not bad on the ears, either. Maybe I'll borrow this more often.
"SO? Are you skipping the rest of the day?" Daniel persisted again, taking one of my shirts off the floor and pulling it on. I wondered how he got so ripped, he was only 14 and, as a guy speaking, gorgeous. And I'm never saying that again, even in my head, because I sounded gayer than a rainbow.
"Nah, just this period, I have a class with Lillie next period. I'd skip that too but lately Trent's been a bigger douche than usual. So I figure I should be there for her," thinking of how dorky that sounded I quickly added an "I dunno." to the end. I pulled out my sketch from earlier and laid it out on the hardwood floor so that I could work comfortably. Daniel sat and watched me while I finished up the charcoal work, taking only five minutes since I'd done the intricate parts (her face and copper locks) in school. Daniel helped me colour in the body with the light, barely noticeable colours while I focused on her moss and honey irises.
"Wow. If this is Lillie, your either a fucking wicked-ass artist or she's beautiful."
"Both." I smiled, "Hey, wanna go for a run? I'm starting to get kind of chubby in the legs." I punched him in the arm enforcing the point that "I hate how you never gain weight, only muscle."
"Bullshit man. Your the same way and you know it. I just don't eat a lot and you eat whatever you get your hands on." I flipped him the finger, and hearing the front door close I dragged my brother downstairs knowing my dad had left.
"Hey Ma. What's up?" I surveyed the damage, mostly emotional, but there were some bleeding cuts and bruises on her legs that she was trying to nurse to no avail.
"D, peas." he nodded and grabbed all of the peas from the freezer in the basement, bringing them up with partial success and no spill-age. I carried my mom over to the couch and my brother set the peas on the worst parts whilst I listened to my mom apologize over and over again for putting us in this situation.
"Mom. It's not your fault. We're not little kids. We understand the situation your in, but you need to stop being so rebellious and just do what he says. Don't you think a little shame would be better than this?" I gestured to her legs and she nodded,
"I'm sorry. I just, I wish we could all just run away. But we need the money to live, and, and, I can't get a proper job like he has." she wasn't right. Me and Dan had come up with a plan over the past month to get us out of this situation. I pulled Daniel aside and told him to tell her about the plan. I'd go for a run by myself.
Walking out the door I yelled "I'll be back late don't wait up!" it was a little joke me and my siblings had. Nobody ever cared what anyone else did enough to 'wait up' in this family. But we all said it anyways. "Love ya mom!"
And with that I closed the door and started off toward the park coincidentally across from Lillie's house.
Left right, left right, long strides, Valenchi. Sprint sprint sprint. I said to myself in my head while I ran the twenty minutes to the park. I was breathing heavy by time I reached the entrance to the pathway, but not heavy enough for me to want to stop. Slowing my pace to a jog I glanced around at all the golden scenery. Yellows and browns with the occasional faded red, like an old truck left in the sun for too long, accompanied me in the seemingly abandoned park. That was one of the few reasons I liked this park, though. Not too busy like the ones in my neighbourhood. No shootings or gang gatherings. No yelling or loud loiterers. Just the lone few people enjoying the near-silence given by the whispering trees and bubbling brook.
Huffing tiredly now, I walked over to one of the old swings kept by good maintenance and took a chunk out of the apple I'd picked from one of the seven (yes, I'd counted) trees bearing the deliciously ripe fruit. It was sweet and soft because it was a little late in the season, but they tasted just the way I preferred.
Hearing a staggered breath from behind me I realized I wasn't alone. It sounded like the person had been crying and was trying to calm themselves down. I looked behind me, not bothering to hide my curiosity and was shocked by who I saw. That's right. Lillie. I was shocked that she skipped. I never thought her to be that type. The crunch under my shoes alerted her also that she was not alone and she looked up instantly to see who was daring to discommode her.
"Hi." her voice mirrored her body language. Shaky. Hurting. What was wrong with her? Was it emotional or physical? Did Trent touch her?
Hundreds more questions entered my mind after that one, but the most recent was, Why is she talking without me pushing a conversation?
"Hey" I said as I sat down beside her on the merry-go-round.
She looked at me for a minute. A whole minute we just sat there looking at each other while I pushed us round in circles with my feet. I raised my hand to her cheek softly as I could and ran it down the length of her face.
"Why are you crying?" I questioned as another tear slid down her skin. It was the colour of driftwood, I noticed. But still beautiful.
She shook her head, looking down at her hand. I followed her eyes and before she could pull her hand into the sleeve of the hoodie she was wearing I saw the discolouration. I slowly moved my hand her hers and she shook her head and more tears began to cascade down her face and drip onto her jeans. She grimaced a little bit but I grabbed her arm higher up to keep it steady as I lifted the material away. The bruises had already formed. Her wrist was probably broken. I touched one of the lightly bruised areas of the damage with feather-like touch and she wailed. Wailed and sobbed. It was definitely broken.
I stood up. "You need to go to the hospital." she nodded and stood up, cradling her broken wrist with her other arm while she guided me to her home, which took all of four minutes since she lived (like I said before) right across from the park entrance. She dug her healthy hand into the pocket of her sweater and handed me some keys that looked like they belonged to a car. Obviously.
I pressed the unlock button to her fancy car and went to the passenger side to open the door for her. She whispered a 'thanks' and sat in the plush seat. I closed her door and jogged over to my side of the car, getting in quickly and speeding to the hospital. The plum shades on her wrist were now accompanied with yellow and blue.
I stepped harder on the gas pedal, pushing the car easily to 70 mph on a 40 mph rode. I took all the side streets until I had to get on a main rode, so that I could speed the whole way there. It took me five minutes to reach downtown, and a further five to get to the hospital with all the retarded fucking one ways.
Once I did get to the hospital, we spent another 15 minutes answering questions given to us as 'mandatory procedures' from a crusty old lady. This was because Lillie had never been in a hospital before. For some reason when I found this out I was relieved.
After the inquirer finished, everything went smoothly and quickly seeing as the hospital I chose wasn't the main hospital and it wasn't hectic and crowded. The doctor said she had a partial fracture, hence not being able to use that hand for two weeks. She was relieved that the fracture had made itself comfy on her left arm, so that she wouldn't fall behind in school.
When the doctor left the room to get the bandages and other things he would need for casting her arm I asked the question we both knew she was dreading.
"So? How did that happen? And don't even try lying to me, 'cause I can tell." I tried to make my voice light and joking, but it came out cold and angry. I couldn't help it. Seeing her hurt was like asking for death.
"Uhm, well, it was my own fault really. I should of just listened to-"
"You don't have to listen to anybody, Lillie."
"Well, yah, I guess, but, uhm, anyways, Trent" I needed serious willpower to settle for an eye roll at that one, "wanted me to invite him to tha' house party I'm havin' at this old warehouse me an' my friends found an' I said he wasn't invited an' he was all over me tryin' to get me to invite him but I really don't want him there so I said no an' he shoved me up against a locker an' tried some shit so I pushed his face away an' ran but he grabbed my wrist an' I, like, flew back an' it really hurt an' I screamed an' he looked shocked tha' he'd hurt me so he let go an' I ran to my car and drove to the park an', uhm, yah, you know tha' rest." It all came out so fast that I needed serious concentration to just catch all the words.
"Wow." was all I said for a few minutes before it hit me that Trent had, indeed, hurt her. "I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch. Honestly, he's fucking dead."
"Matt, please, doon't, well, don't kill him a' least. You can punch his face in or whateva' you said but no death, 'kay?" she didn't seem genuinely worried, for him at least.
"What are you so worried for? I know you could care less if he died or not, but you still seem worried about something. Actually, your a nervous wreck. What's wrong?
"I doon't want you to get in trouble if you mess him up too bad."
"Well, if that's all, then my next question is: Why not? Since when do you care the slightest bit about me?"
"Since you stopped making stupid advances on me an' I noticed you actually might've liked me an' I wasn't just another chick you were gonna fuck an' leave."
"Yah well believe me, it started out like that. When I realized you were too smart for me to ever get you I started actually paying attention to you. Your pretty interesting."
She bit her lip, obviously flattered. "You know, you don't seem like a bad boy right now. You actually seem kind of sweet."
I laughed, "Well don't tell anyone, okay?"
"Only if you date me."
I think my eyes popped out of my head.
"You want to date me?"
"Maybe one date. Then I'll have to see."
"Well I obviously can't turn you down." I laughed.
"Good. Tomorrow come by at six"
"What are we doing?"
"I don't know." she smiled, hiding the details from my inquisitive looks.
= O
From then on Trent did get his face punched in, Matthew's mother started secretly taking classes at college to go into architecture, Matthew learnt all the words to Cobra Starship's CD Hot Mess, and Lillie did start dating the bad boy of Amnesty High. He taught her how to live a little, and she taught him how to be a the good boy ever once in a while.
Fin