Two Weeks had passed since Sam had questioned my feelings for Ren.. It was now the Homecoming game and I sat in the stands with the marching band freezing and sweating at the same time... that's the amazing thing about marching band uniforms.... it doesn't matter if it's below the point which water freezes.... you are still going to sweat... intensely.
During the third quarter, my friend Paul walked up to me.
"Hey Jean."
"Hey Paul. What's up?"
"Not much. I was just wondering, have you gotten a date for the dance yet?" He asked.
"No," I answered, "Why?"
"Well neither have I. And since we both don't have dates, I was wondering if you'd be cool with going as friends?"
"Totally! Yeah that'd be really cool. I'm going to Elle and Meghan's house after the game, so say stop by tomorrow round six thirty?"
"Cool, see ya then Jean." He looked down and Mr. L was glaring up at him, "Guess I better get back to the trumpets... before L murders me." He laughed and got up to go back to his section. I'll admit that Paul wasn't my dream homecoming date, but seeing as neither Ren nor Nate had asked me yet and had both had plenty of opportunities, it was the best I would be doing.
After the game, we were back in the band room packing up and changing out of our uniforms, when Ren and Nate came up to me arguing. They both looked like they were in some sort of competition with each other.
"She's going to say yes to me, she doesn't even know you." Ren said to him. Nate pouted his lip and gave him a stern look and said,
"So you think."
"What are you two fighting about now? I swear you two fight more than good vs evil." I said to them.
"Will you go to homecoming with me?" they both said at the same time. They gave each other glares and started at the bickering again with,
"She'll pick me"
"She's gonna say yes to me." and other things like that. I looked back and forth between scared like I was watching a tennis match. With each comment from one, the other would get even angrier. I knew I had to stop this before it got violent. But what was I going to say? Sorry I can't go to homecoming with either of you because I'm going with Paul as friends? But I couldn't say yes to them because I couldn't back down on Paul. It would hurt him too much.
"No." I said. They stopped fighting and both looked at me.
"What?" Ren asked. Nate looked as though that's what he was about to say.
"I can't go with either of you." I continued, "I have," how was I to phrase this? "other plans." so I bent the truth a little. I wasn't lieing... I did have other plans. Other plans for going to the dance with someone else.
"Well then I guess I can get another date." Nate said. He walked away head held high, but I could tell he was upset. I looked to Ren. He looked like he was about to cry.
"Ren are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah Jean." He looked down, "I'm fine. What ever your other plans are, have fun." He turned around, "See ya Monday." I reached out to put my hand on his shoulder, but he started walking away before I reached him. I just stood there with my hand out for I don't know how long. I then realized something. The Berlin's and my family have always gone up to their lake every summer. This summer, Ren and I went to a karaoke club and we sang a duet. I then realized. Ren was Ruffled Romeo. I then realized, my best friend was in love with me.
Later that night at the Gilman's house, I sat on Eleanor's bed while Meghan, Eleanor, Carmen, Brooke and Brittney all talked about their homecoming experience thus far. It seemed as though they didn't even notice my quietness, until Brooke asked me a question and I didn't answer. Not because I didn't want to, I was just off in my own world. My own sad and depressed world, where I turned down a two guys in love with me to go on a date as friends.
"Jeanette, are you okay?" Brooke asked me as she sat down next to me. I came to, and saw that the other girls had all joined around me like it was story time and we were in kindergarten.
"What's wrong Hun?" Carmen asked, placing her hand on my knee. I looked around at them and started to cry.
"Ren and Nate both asked me to homecoming." I sobbed and put my head in my knees as I pulled them to my body. I felt Brooke put her arms around me and all of them started simultaneously saying how great that was, and asking which one I'm going with.
"I'm not going with them." I said. They all looked at me confused. I lifted my head and dried my tears on my shirt sleeve. "I told Paul that we could go as friends. And I can't back down on that."
"Well what did they say when you told them that?" Brittney asked.
"I didn't tell them that. I said I had other plans." I put my head back in my knees and started crying again. All of the girls got on the bed and surrounded me telling me that everything was going to be okay and that Ren and Nate would both forgive me.
The Next day around six thirty the Gilman's door bell rang. Mrs. Gilman opened the door and Paul turned to her.
"You must be Paul." She said. She was a tiny woman with long dark hair like what Eleanor's would look like if she let it grow out. "Come in. The rest of the boys are waiting in the living room." She lead him into the living room where five other boys and Mr. Gilman were sitting. Mr. Gilman was an older man with a mustache and a brown hat that he always wore. At the current moment his eyes were fixed upon Zack Mackavoy and Trevor Christian who were nervously sitting on the couch and both his daughters dates. Paul sat down next to Trevor and put his hands in his lap. They all sat there for a few minutes before Zack got up the nerve to speak.
"Nice weather we're having... and... um... how bout them Lions?" he said to Mr. Gilman,
"I hate football." Mr. Gilman said never taking his eyes off the two boys.
"Oh me too." Trevor agreed quickly trying to get on his good side. Paul let out a cough and cleared his throat as if to say something of importance when Meaghan came down the stairs followed by the rest of us.
"We're ready!" she said. Instantly, Mr. Gilman's expression changed and his attention gravitated to his daughters.
"You look beautiful Meghan dear." he said. "You too Ellie." The twins smiled and giggled.
"Thanks daddy!" they said in unison. We then proceeded to take some pictures and headed of to the dance.
After the dance, Paul walked me back to my dorm and I explained the whole story about Ren and Nate.
"You could have told me you wanted to go with them Jean. I really wouldn't have minded." he reassured me.
"I know, but I would have felt bad if I had. Besides, it's their faults for not asking me sooner." I looked down. We had arrived at my door. Paul put his hand on my shoulder.
"You don't mean that." he said. I looked up at him he wasn't smiling anymore. "Jeanette, I know how you feel about both of them. They've both made it pretty obvious that the feel the same way."
"What are you getting at Paul?"
"Just think about it Jean. That's all, just make sure you're making the right choice before you make it." He hugged me and walked away. When he was about ten feet away he turned around and said, "I'll see ya in band on Monday!" I shook my head and put the key in the door. He was right. I was going to have a choice to make. I couldn't have both Ren and Nate. I was going to have to chose between them. I took off my dress and hung it up in the closet. On the one hand there was Nate, The Hot Italian rock star of my dreams. He was amazing eye candy and could easily be amazing arm candy too. I put on my PJ's and brushed my teeth. On the other hand there was Ren, my gorgeous best friend who has always been there for me through thick and thin. I turned off the light, even though I knew Eleanor would turn it on when she came in... if she came in. I knew I couldn't have both, even if I wanted both. I hopped into bed and put my glasses on the bedside table. I was going to have to chose between the two loves of my life. But not tonight. No, tonight I was going to dream. Dream about a perfect world were I didn't have to chose. A perfect world were I could be completely happy.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Chapter 4
The Next day in German, I sat at my desk focusing on the Romeo letter, when Brittney and Meghan walked in. I quietly hid the letter under some papers and turned to them.
"What is the chance that you have a class with Nate?" Brittney said to me, "I mean come on, I'm only like in the same year as him and we take all the same classes... except for he's in French and not Ban. So really I mean..." she was obviously in a mood to complain, so I stopped her with.
"He only came in before third period yesterday Britt, so you still have two more hours to discover him in a class of yours. and I didn't ask to have him in my French class. It just happened."
"Okay not everyone is like you Jean and takes two forgein language classes an who really takes AP Bio? He's not going to be in any of my classes and I'm never going to meet him."
"Oh I think you will." I said.
"What makes you say that?"
"Look behind you." They turned around and sure enough there he stood. Nate Jeffery and all his Italian sexiness.
"Hi, is this Mrs. Idler's German four? Oh bonjourno Jeanette!" he started his gaze on me.
"Yeah, you're in the right place." I said and looked up at Brittney and Meaghan. The were both starry eyed and starring at Nate.
"And this is Brittney Miller and Meaghan Gilman. Okay guys, you're freaking him out." but neither of them seemed to even notice I was in the room.
"Sie beide, aufwachen won Traumland? Bitte, Bitte!" I yelled to get their attention. They both looked mortified and Nate started to laugh.
Later in choir class I was sitting in my section describing all my time spent with Nate to my friends Carmen Welsh, Brooke Wesley and Brie Horton.
"Can you believe he spoke to me in Italian Carmen?" Carmen pushed her long, straight brown hair back and stared at me through her glasses.
"Really Jean? I thought you were better than this." she said disappointed.
"I am I'd never act like this in front of him!"
"Wow... Not what I meant, but okay. What does Ren think of all this?"
"What do you think he thinks? He hates it. He think that Nate is just... Sam stop molesting my leg!" I screamed at my friend Sam who was running her hand up my leg. She looked up at me from underneath her short blond bangs.
"Oh you know you like it!" she said jokingly. Just then our friend Hannah popped her head in.
"What?" she asked, "All I heard was 'You like it.' What'd I miss?" She smiled.
"Just Sam being Sam and creeping on Jeanette." Brie explained.
"Sam," Hannah began, "I've told you before, and I'll tell you again. She's meant for someone else." She placed her hand on my shoulder and looked lovingly into my eyes.
"Yeah," Brooke said, then Carmen and Brie joined in unison, "Nate..." They all laughed.
"But I thought you liked Ren?" Sam said confused. She was the only person to even inquire about that.
"Well... I..." I was at a loss of words, "I do... but I don't... I mean... I don't know..." they all looked at me with concerned looks. Hannah hugged me and said,
"You poor tortured soul."
"What is the chance that you have a class with Nate?" Brittney said to me, "I mean come on, I'm only like in the same year as him and we take all the same classes... except for he's in French and not Ban. So really I mean..." she was obviously in a mood to complain, so I stopped her with.
"He only came in before third period yesterday Britt, so you still have two more hours to discover him in a class of yours. and I didn't ask to have him in my French class. It just happened."
"Okay not everyone is like you Jean and takes two forgein language classes an who really takes AP Bio? He's not going to be in any of my classes and I'm never going to meet him."
"Oh I think you will." I said.
"What makes you say that?"
"Look behind you." They turned around and sure enough there he stood. Nate Jeffery and all his Italian sexiness.
"Hi, is this Mrs. Idler's German four? Oh bonjourno Jeanette!" he started his gaze on me.
"Yeah, you're in the right place." I said and looked up at Brittney and Meaghan. The were both starry eyed and starring at Nate.
"And this is Brittney Miller and Meaghan Gilman. Okay guys, you're freaking him out." but neither of them seemed to even notice I was in the room.
"Sie beide, aufwachen won Traumland? Bitte, Bitte!" I yelled to get their attention. They both looked mortified and Nate started to laugh.
Later in choir class I was sitting in my section describing all my time spent with Nate to my friends Carmen Welsh, Brooke Wesley and Brie Horton.
"Can you believe he spoke to me in Italian Carmen?" Carmen pushed her long, straight brown hair back and stared at me through her glasses.
"Really Jean? I thought you were better than this." she said disappointed.
"I am I'd never act like this in front of him!"
"Wow... Not what I meant, but okay. What does Ren think of all this?"
"What do you think he thinks? He hates it. He think that Nate is just... Sam stop molesting my leg!" I screamed at my friend Sam who was running her hand up my leg. She looked up at me from underneath her short blond bangs.
"Oh you know you like it!" she said jokingly. Just then our friend Hannah popped her head in.
"What?" she asked, "All I heard was 'You like it.' What'd I miss?" She smiled.
"Just Sam being Sam and creeping on Jeanette." Brie explained.
"Sam," Hannah began, "I've told you before, and I'll tell you again. She's meant for someone else." She placed her hand on my shoulder and looked lovingly into my eyes.
"Yeah," Brooke said, then Carmen and Brie joined in unison, "Nate..." They all laughed.
"But I thought you liked Ren?" Sam said confused. She was the only person to even inquire about that.
"Well... I..." I was at a loss of words, "I do... but I don't... I mean... I don't know..." they all looked at me with concerned looks. Hannah hugged me and said,
"You poor tortured soul."
Chapter 3
The next day Ren and I were Walking to our third hours when a crowd of people in the language wing stopped us. The crowed was full of screaming girls who were not moving.
"What is going on up there? Why is there a road block?" Ren asked. For how smart he was, he was really stupid sometimes.
"It's obviously John Lennon Ren... and all the girls are going crazy over him." I said and just then one of the girls knocked me over into Ren and we went flying onto the floor. Then we heard a deep man's voice say,
"Ladies, ladies please, Mr. Jeffery is going to be late for his French class. Now we need you to move for him." and immediately the girls parted like the red sea and sure enough a guy with brown hair and glasses walked out. He managed to miss every sing limb from the mob and he looked free to go to French class, until he tripped over my foot. When he caught himself, he spun around on heel to yell at me for not watching where I fall, but he stopped and stared at me with his beautiful amber eyes.
"I tuoi occhi sono come due stelle, Bella." He said to me as he reached out a hand to help me up. I slowly reached up and stared at his face with awe. This was in fact Nate Jeffery. The gorgeous Italian rock star of my dreams. He had just spoken in Italian to me. Sure I had no clue what he had just said to me, but it was beautiful.
"My name is Nathan. And what may I call a beautiful goddess as you?" he asked me. I let out a nervous giggle.
"Jeanette, Hi!" I barely got out.
"Well, Jeanette," it sounded even better when he said it, "May I have the honor of escorting you to class?" he asked and bowed.
"Uh-huh!" I said never taking my eyes off him. Ren, who had been standing right behind me in my fangirliness, wasn't to pleased with Nate, because he pulled me away and said,
"Well Mr. Jeffery..."
"Please, call me Nate." he interrupted. Ren hated when people interrupted him. He glared at Nate with a fire in his eyes.
"Nate then. I'm sure you're already late enough as it is and you really don't want to be late to a class on your first day. And besides, Jean and I were walking the other way, so I guess it's just out of your way to walk her to class..."
"But my class is right there Ren..." I started to point out.
"I'm not talking to you Jean. So why don't you just run along Nate because we're not..."
"Actually that's my class too. French two with Madame Shirley?"
"Really!?" I squealed and took his arm. "Then I guess you can walk me to class." I shot Ren a dirty look saying we'd talk about this later, the Nate and I walked off to French.
We took our seats in French right next to each other and my Friend Amber walked into class. Amber was tall and pretty skinny. She had bleach blond wavy hair and beautiful blue eyes with a pair of Rosy cheeks and the lips to match. She was also a complete valley girl. Like straight out of a '90's teen movie.
"Oh mi god Jean, did you like see that like huge crowd of girls out there? It was like totally like the the biggest crowd I've like ever seen, in a hallway that is. Cause I've like totally seen like way bigger crowds than that. But like anyways, I can't like believe that crowd, it was like far out there, ch'ya and I was like 'Oh mi god like what's going on out here?' and then I... was..." she stopped and saw Nate sitting next to me, "LIKE OH MI GOD YOU'RE NATE JEFFERY!" she squealed almost breaking our eardrums. She adored Nate and was the president of his fan club.
"Amber Weston! How many times have I told you, No screaming in my class. This is a place of calm." Madam Shirley sternly said to Amber. "Quel est ton Problem?" she then said under her breath. But Amber had heard her and responded with.
"Je ne sais pas." We all laughed. Not because of what she had said but because she was being serious.
After French, I walked into Drama and Ren sat there with an angry look on his face. I then remembered what had happened an hour ago and I was angry too.
"What the fuck is your problem Ren. Can't you let me just have one little bit of happiness ever?" I said to him making sure Mrs. Kempler couldn't hear me.
"Did you see the way he was looking at you Jean?"
"Yes, like I was special Ren. Like I was a girl."
"No, he was looking at you like you were a porn star. I could see it in his eyes. All he wants to do is get into your pants." I couldn't believe he was saying this to my face.
"You don't even know him Ren. You have no clue what he sees in me. And so what if he does? You know for once in my life it would actually be nice to even have a guy think that way about me. No guy has even looked at me as someone beautiful before so I'm sorry if he does and I'm sorry you think he's just some stupid rock star who isn't worth your best friends time but I think he is."
"I'd look at you like that." He said under his breath.
"What?" I asked because I hadn't heard him.
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. Just mumbling to myself."
"You do mumble a lot." I said and smiled. But he looked at me with hurt in his eyes.
"Look Ren, I'm a big girl now. I can handle a rock star with a strange infatuation. Lets not get in a fight over him though. Friends?" I batted my eyes and gave him a puppy dog pout. He grinned and began to laugh.
"Mr. Berlin, Ms. O'Connell, is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?' Mrs. Kempler asked us. We silently shook our heads no and continued to chuckle under our breath.
"You win." Ren whispered to me. And I smiled.
"What is going on up there? Why is there a road block?" Ren asked. For how smart he was, he was really stupid sometimes.
"It's obviously John Lennon Ren... and all the girls are going crazy over him." I said and just then one of the girls knocked me over into Ren and we went flying onto the floor. Then we heard a deep man's voice say,
"Ladies, ladies please, Mr. Jeffery is going to be late for his French class. Now we need you to move for him." and immediately the girls parted like the red sea and sure enough a guy with brown hair and glasses walked out. He managed to miss every sing limb from the mob and he looked free to go to French class, until he tripped over my foot. When he caught himself, he spun around on heel to yell at me for not watching where I fall, but he stopped and stared at me with his beautiful amber eyes.
"I tuoi occhi sono come due stelle, Bella." He said to me as he reached out a hand to help me up. I slowly reached up and stared at his face with awe. This was in fact Nate Jeffery. The gorgeous Italian rock star of my dreams. He had just spoken in Italian to me. Sure I had no clue what he had just said to me, but it was beautiful.
"My name is Nathan. And what may I call a beautiful goddess as you?" he asked me. I let out a nervous giggle.
"Jeanette, Hi!" I barely got out.
"Well, Jeanette," it sounded even better when he said it, "May I have the honor of escorting you to class?" he asked and bowed.
"Uh-huh!" I said never taking my eyes off him. Ren, who had been standing right behind me in my fangirliness, wasn't to pleased with Nate, because he pulled me away and said,
"Well Mr. Jeffery..."
"Please, call me Nate." he interrupted. Ren hated when people interrupted him. He glared at Nate with a fire in his eyes.
"Nate then. I'm sure you're already late enough as it is and you really don't want to be late to a class on your first day. And besides, Jean and I were walking the other way, so I guess it's just out of your way to walk her to class..."
"But my class is right there Ren..." I started to point out.
"I'm not talking to you Jean. So why don't you just run along Nate because we're not..."
"Actually that's my class too. French two with Madame Shirley?"
"Really!?" I squealed and took his arm. "Then I guess you can walk me to class." I shot Ren a dirty look saying we'd talk about this later, the Nate and I walked off to French.
We took our seats in French right next to each other and my Friend Amber walked into class. Amber was tall and pretty skinny. She had bleach blond wavy hair and beautiful blue eyes with a pair of Rosy cheeks and the lips to match. She was also a complete valley girl. Like straight out of a '90's teen movie.
"Oh mi god Jean, did you like see that like huge crowd of girls out there? It was like totally like the the biggest crowd I've like ever seen, in a hallway that is. Cause I've like totally seen like way bigger crowds than that. But like anyways, I can't like believe that crowd, it was like far out there, ch'ya and I was like 'Oh mi god like what's going on out here?' and then I... was..." she stopped and saw Nate sitting next to me, "LIKE OH MI GOD YOU'RE NATE JEFFERY!" she squealed almost breaking our eardrums. She adored Nate and was the president of his fan club.
"Amber Weston! How many times have I told you, No screaming in my class. This is a place of calm." Madam Shirley sternly said to Amber. "Quel est ton Problem?" she then said under her breath. But Amber had heard her and responded with.
"Je ne sais pas." We all laughed. Not because of what she had said but because she was being serious.
After French, I walked into Drama and Ren sat there with an angry look on his face. I then remembered what had happened an hour ago and I was angry too.
"What the fuck is your problem Ren. Can't you let me just have one little bit of happiness ever?" I said to him making sure Mrs. Kempler couldn't hear me.
"Did you see the way he was looking at you Jean?"
"Yes, like I was special Ren. Like I was a girl."
"No, he was looking at you like you were a porn star. I could see it in his eyes. All he wants to do is get into your pants." I couldn't believe he was saying this to my face.
"You don't even know him Ren. You have no clue what he sees in me. And so what if he does? You know for once in my life it would actually be nice to even have a guy think that way about me. No guy has even looked at me as someone beautiful before so I'm sorry if he does and I'm sorry you think he's just some stupid rock star who isn't worth your best friends time but I think he is."
"I'd look at you like that." He said under his breath.
"What?" I asked because I hadn't heard him.
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. Just mumbling to myself."
"You do mumble a lot." I said and smiled. But he looked at me with hurt in his eyes.
"Look Ren, I'm a big girl now. I can handle a rock star with a strange infatuation. Lets not get in a fight over him though. Friends?" I batted my eyes and gave him a puppy dog pout. He grinned and began to laugh.
"Mr. Berlin, Ms. O'Connell, is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?' Mrs. Kempler asked us. We silently shook our heads no and continued to chuckle under our breath.
"You win." Ren whispered to me. And I smiled.
Chapter 2
"Alright everyone, settle down." Mr. Letwitcs called out to my band, and as always, no one listened to him.
"Every day guys, well I guess I'll just have to start handing out detentions, that's cool with you guys right?" he asked. And as usual, everyone shut up.
"Good, now then. Welcome back to school, the class your in right now is Varsity Band. This means you don't suck as much as symphony band, but you suck a lot more than Wind Ensemble. Now I know you all want to be in Wind Ensemble, and the only way to even have a chance at that is by taking lessons, so you are all required to take lessons at least once a week and if you take lessons with me, you won't have to..." Mr. L started to drone on and I started to block him out. I was a little more focused on a 'Dear Daisy' letter I had recently gotten. And for once... it was a love confession... I'd never gotten one before. It read:
"Dear Daisy,
This summer, as every summer since I was born, I went up to our family's lake with my best friend and her family. We've been friends our entire lives and up until now I've always looked at her as a little sister. But sometime in August, we were singing a Karaoke duet and when we where singing we looked into each others eyes. And as I looked deep into her beautiful eyes, I realized that I'm in love with her. And now I don't know weather or not to confess to her, because what if she doesn't feel the same way? I don't know if that would ruin the relationship that we have. Please help me!
Ruffled Romeo"
"Alright everyone, get out your scale packets, we're going to start on scale number twelve." Mr. L said as I snapped back to reality. I put the letter away and picked up my trombone. As I played, I tried to think of something to tell Romeo, but I had no clue. Love was about the one thing I didn't know a thing about. I knew that a logical answer would be that if she was really his best friend, that his feelings shouldn't change hers. But then I thought what if I were this guy? Would my telling Ren about my feelings for him scare him off?
Ren and I sat together at lunch, just as we always had since kindergarten. We sat at our usual table and pulled out our usual lunches, tuna, and a PB&J. We took out half and traded. It was a gross ritual, but we always did this. We don't know why, but we apparently liked the tow tastes together. As I began to nibble on my half of the tuna, Brittney and Meaghan Gilman ran up to the table.
"Oh mi god Jeanette,did you hear the rumor?" Brittney asked.
"Yeah did you hear it?" Meaghan followed her green eyes a glow. Meaghan and Eleanor were twins and basically looked the same except for Meghan was a blond.
"No, did you guys take something? Like sugar? You know it's like crack to you guys." I told them. Ren laughed and I just grinned. Brittney was not amused with my joking.
"Seriously Jeanette you'll want to hear this. Go ahead, tell her Meaghan." Meaghan looked about ready to burst.
"Nate Jeffery is transferring to our school!" She squealed as she jumped in the air. I just looked at her in disappointment. When she looked for my excitement she got a worried look on her face.
"I said, Nate Jeffery is transferring to our school!" she did a jump and some jazz hands. I still wasn't cracking though.
"Nate Jeffery... Oh come on Jean! It's Nate freaking Jeffery!" Meghan started to yell which is when I squealed,
"OH MI GOD ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!" Meaghan and Brittney got huge smiles on their faces.
"I knew you'd be excited!" Brittney said. We all started to laugh and Ren just looked at us in disbelief.
"I can not believe you guys. All this over Nate Jeffery, Really?"
"Do you expect any more or less from us?" I said and smiled at him, "And admit it you love us!" I giggled. He rolled his eyes.
"Sure I do. Hey is that my article?" he asked as he reached across me for the paper. And just then someones bag walking by knocked my head into Ren's and I kissed him on the cheek. The really awkward part was that I couldn't make my self move away, so I was stuck, my lips on his cheek, for what seemed forever. It felt so wonderful. Until he pulled away and I realized that Brittney and Meghan were staring at us. My cheeks turned so red that they matched my lips.
"I'm sorry Ren." I said to him completely embarrassed. He looked at me with his gorgeous blue eyes and started to laugh. I was completely confused.
"It's not a big deal Jean. It was a complete accident." he said.
"And it's funny why?"
"I don't actually know." He smirked at me. I rolled my eyes and laughed with him the rest of lunch.
"Every day guys, well I guess I'll just have to start handing out detentions, that's cool with you guys right?" he asked. And as usual, everyone shut up.
"Good, now then. Welcome back to school, the class your in right now is Varsity Band. This means you don't suck as much as symphony band, but you suck a lot more than Wind Ensemble. Now I know you all want to be in Wind Ensemble, and the only way to even have a chance at that is by taking lessons, so you are all required to take lessons at least once a week and if you take lessons with me, you won't have to..." Mr. L started to drone on and I started to block him out. I was a little more focused on a 'Dear Daisy' letter I had recently gotten. And for once... it was a love confession... I'd never gotten one before. It read:
"Dear Daisy,
This summer, as every summer since I was born, I went up to our family's lake with my best friend and her family. We've been friends our entire lives and up until now I've always looked at her as a little sister. But sometime in August, we were singing a Karaoke duet and when we where singing we looked into each others eyes. And as I looked deep into her beautiful eyes, I realized that I'm in love with her. And now I don't know weather or not to confess to her, because what if she doesn't feel the same way? I don't know if that would ruin the relationship that we have. Please help me!
Ruffled Romeo"
"Alright everyone, get out your scale packets, we're going to start on scale number twelve." Mr. L said as I snapped back to reality. I put the letter away and picked up my trombone. As I played, I tried to think of something to tell Romeo, but I had no clue. Love was about the one thing I didn't know a thing about. I knew that a logical answer would be that if she was really his best friend, that his feelings shouldn't change hers. But then I thought what if I were this guy? Would my telling Ren about my feelings for him scare him off?
Ren and I sat together at lunch, just as we always had since kindergarten. We sat at our usual table and pulled out our usual lunches, tuna, and a PB&J. We took out half and traded. It was a gross ritual, but we always did this. We don't know why, but we apparently liked the tow tastes together. As I began to nibble on my half of the tuna, Brittney and Meaghan Gilman ran up to the table.
"Oh mi god Jeanette,did you hear the rumor?" Brittney asked.
"Yeah did you hear it?" Meaghan followed her green eyes a glow. Meaghan and Eleanor were twins and basically looked the same except for Meghan was a blond.
"No, did you guys take something? Like sugar? You know it's like crack to you guys." I told them. Ren laughed and I just grinned. Brittney was not amused with my joking.
"Seriously Jeanette you'll want to hear this. Go ahead, tell her Meaghan." Meaghan looked about ready to burst.
"Nate Jeffery is transferring to our school!" She squealed as she jumped in the air. I just looked at her in disappointment. When she looked for my excitement she got a worried look on her face.
"I said, Nate Jeffery is transferring to our school!" she did a jump and some jazz hands. I still wasn't cracking though.
"Nate Jeffery... Oh come on Jean! It's Nate freaking Jeffery!" Meghan started to yell which is when I squealed,
"OH MI GOD ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!" Meaghan and Brittney got huge smiles on their faces.
"I knew you'd be excited!" Brittney said. We all started to laugh and Ren just looked at us in disbelief.
"I can not believe you guys. All this over Nate Jeffery, Really?"
"Do you expect any more or less from us?" I said and smiled at him, "And admit it you love us!" I giggled. He rolled his eyes.
"Sure I do. Hey is that my article?" he asked as he reached across me for the paper. And just then someones bag walking by knocked my head into Ren's and I kissed him on the cheek. The really awkward part was that I couldn't make my self move away, so I was stuck, my lips on his cheek, for what seemed forever. It felt so wonderful. Until he pulled away and I realized that Brittney and Meghan were staring at us. My cheeks turned so red that they matched my lips.
"I'm sorry Ren." I said to him completely embarrassed. He looked at me with his gorgeous blue eyes and started to laugh. I was completely confused.
"It's not a big deal Jean. It was a complete accident." he said.
"And it's funny why?"
"I don't actually know." He smirked at me. I rolled my eyes and laughed with him the rest of lunch.
Chapter 1
I never expected this to happen. Never did I think that I would be standing her, kissing him! Nate Jeffery was kissing me! Little miss nobody from the middle of ...
"Don't stop me now, if you wanna have a good time, just give me a call..." I groaned and opened my eyes. It was all a dream... I was in my dorm room at East Harrison Academy, and my alarm was going off telling me to start another ordinary day.
"Come on Jean, wake up!" My roommate Eleanor was yelling at me from our bathroom.
"What for, we still have time Elle."
"No, we definitely have to be in the dinning hall in twenty minutes."
"What?! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" I yelled as i jumped out of bed and searched for my uniform.
"Well for one thing, I'm not your alarm and secondly you were having such a good dream, that, I didn't have the heart to wake you up. What was it about again? 'Oh Nate, just hold me!' Who's Nate Jean?" She laughed.
"Shut up."
"Admit it Jeanette, you were having a dream about Nate Jeffrey." She put her hands on her hips and raised her brown eyebrow. She knew how I had a major fan girl crush on him and knew that this look would get me to admit anything.
"So What if I was?" I said as I finished tying my converse. I stood up and looked at her waiting for an answer. She looked back at me with her green eyes, this time raising both eyebrows in with an 'are you serious?' look on her face.
"So what? Jean it's not normal to have intimate dreams about guys you've never met and probably never will meet. And do you really think..."
"Okay first," I interrupted, "Who says I won't meet him and Secondly; it was just a dream. Like Nate Jeffrey would ever want to kiss someone like me."
"What ever Jeanette." Eleanor said as she shook her head of curly brown hair. She looked like a silent film star in my opinion. A short crop cut, a small round face with soft features. She was a small girl, only about 5'2". Well Small in comparison to my 6' feet of clumsiness. I had long, knobby legs that weren't good for anything except holding up the rest of my body, most of the time. It's not that I didn't like how I looked, I just thought I could look better. I had blond hair but a golden blond. And big Hazel eyes with a pair of UN-matching, naturally red lips. I looked down at myself, and didn't like it, but what was I to do? I grabbed my bag and adjusted my rectangular glasses.
"I'm ready, you good to go?" I asked Eleanor. She shrugged her shoulders and we left out the door.
Eleanor and I hadn't noticed in the room, but our clock was apparently running slow. So as Eleanor was locking our door, I looked up at the hall clock and started tugging on her sweater.
"Uh Eleanor, I thing wee need to reset our clock later."
"Why would you say that?" she asked. I pointed to the clock. It read 7:24, and breakfast started twenty minutes ago.
"Shit." We said in unison. We then bolted off trying to make the remainder of breakfast and we decided to take the short route to the dinning hall. But thanks to karma, this ended up taking us even longer. But we ran through the hallways weaving and curving through the crowd of upperclassmen on their ways to their early morning classes. We were lucky enough to miss every person, until we turned the corner by the front office when we ran into someone head on and fell over.
"Hey, watch where your going numskull!" I yelled.
"Uh... Jeanette...." Eleanor said in a nervous whisper.
"What was that Ms.O'Connell?" a deep and fearsome voice said from above me. I looked up to see our head master, Mr. Highland, Standing above us with a stern and angry look on his plump face. I looked into his face and got an instant feeling of terror.
"Oh, Mr. Highland... I didn't see you there... sorry about the numskull thing..." I said trying not to sound too nervous.
"So why are you two ladies running through the hallways? Hm... you wouldn't happen to be LATE for something, now would you?" He glared down at us and his mustache twitched. We looked up at him and knew we were in for it.
After about five minutes of Mr. Highland lecturing us on the importance of punctuality, we finally made it to breakfast just in time for us to be able to share a pop tart.
"Hey, where have you guys been?" Brittney Miller asked us. She looked at me with her angry brown eyes. She was short as well. A little bit taller than Eleanor, but not much, she had long, dark, flowing brown hair, but she normally had it up in a pony tail.
"Oh Jeanette here was having a dream about Nate Jeffery." Eleanor said.
"Eleanor! That is not something i want shared with the rest of the world ya... know..." I trailed off as my eyes locked into a star.
"Jean?" Brittney said, "What's wrong with her?" She looked at Eleanor.
"I don't know, Jeanette are you okay?" Eleanor asked me. But I couldn't hear either of them over the Bryan Adams song that had started in my head. And it was all because of him. Ren Berlin, the hottest guy in school, and my best friend. He was walking straight towards me with his brilliant smile, his firey red hair and his bright blue eyes.
Ren and I have been friends since before we were born. Our moms had been college roomies and after that, they had become as close as sisters. In addition, they were convinced that they would have daughters and they would both be as close as they were. A regular mother daughter times two thing. Except, when Mrs. Berlin found out that she was in fact having a boy, not a girl, they kind of dropped the whole thing. But who would have guessed we would have become best friends anyways. And then we grew up. He became the popular jock, and straight "A" student. And I became the nerdy, band geek that people felt sorry for.
"Hey, Jeanette." I heard him say as I broke away from memory lane.
"Oh hi, Ren." I said sheepishly back. I could tell from the glowing laughter in his eyes that he could tell were my mind had just been.
"So Jean," He said as he said down next to me, "I was wondering."
"Yeah?" I answered back ready to do anything for him.
"Could you maybe find time to edit my column for the school newspaper?"
"Oh," I said kind of disappointed, "Okay sure." He smiled at me and reached in his bag to pull out a wrinkly piece of lined paper. He handed it to me and I looked at it. I looked like hi had used it as a napkin on BBQ day.
"This is your column?" I said to him raising one eyebrow. He looked at me embarrassed and said,
"Yeah, I know it looks like shit now, but I'll type it up before I hand it in to the editor."
"You mean I'll type it up. I know how you handle papers." I said and stuffed the paper into my bag.
"Really Jean?" he said and pretended to be surprised. "No, I can't ask you to do that for me."
"Ren, you're not asking me, I'm telling you. I'm typing it for you and I will tun it into the editor. I need to give him my pictures anyways.
"Right your pictures. And anything else?" I looked at him. The truth was yes, I did have something else. But I couldn't tell him. I couldn't tell anyone. I'm the 'Dear Daisy' columnist. So I know all the secrets of the school and with power like that, I have to keep it a secret. And that's why the editor set me up as a photographer. But Ren is convinced that that's not all I do. Ever since I got my position as Daisy, he's been on my case, snooping around trying to figure me out. Which is his job, seeing as he's the paper's 'Facts, Opinions, and Dirt' reporter.
"No Ren, just the pictures, I Swear!"
"Well in any case you're too sweet Jean. Thanks, see ya fourth hour. Bye ladies." He said as he got up and walked away.
"Bye Ren!" Eleanor and Brittney said in unison.
"Jean, I don't know why you haven't tapped that yet." Brittney said. I looked at her confused.
"What did you just say?"
"Uh.... please don't hit me Jean!" she begged. I started laughing at her.
"Come on Britt, let's go before Frau yells at us for being late again." I said and we headed off to German.
"Don't stop me now, if you wanna have a good time, just give me a call..." I groaned and opened my eyes. It was all a dream... I was in my dorm room at East Harrison Academy, and my alarm was going off telling me to start another ordinary day.
"Come on Jean, wake up!" My roommate Eleanor was yelling at me from our bathroom.
"What for, we still have time Elle."
"No, we definitely have to be in the dinning hall in twenty minutes."
"What?! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" I yelled as i jumped out of bed and searched for my uniform.
"Well for one thing, I'm not your alarm and secondly you were having such a good dream, that, I didn't have the heart to wake you up. What was it about again? 'Oh Nate, just hold me!' Who's Nate Jean?" She laughed.
"Shut up."
"Admit it Jeanette, you were having a dream about Nate Jeffrey." She put her hands on her hips and raised her brown eyebrow. She knew how I had a major fan girl crush on him and knew that this look would get me to admit anything.
"So What if I was?" I said as I finished tying my converse. I stood up and looked at her waiting for an answer. She looked back at me with her green eyes, this time raising both eyebrows in with an 'are you serious?' look on her face.
"So what? Jean it's not normal to have intimate dreams about guys you've never met and probably never will meet. And do you really think..."
"Okay first," I interrupted, "Who says I won't meet him and Secondly; it was just a dream. Like Nate Jeffrey would ever want to kiss someone like me."
"What ever Jeanette." Eleanor said as she shook her head of curly brown hair. She looked like a silent film star in my opinion. A short crop cut, a small round face with soft features. She was a small girl, only about 5'2". Well Small in comparison to my 6' feet of clumsiness. I had long, knobby legs that weren't good for anything except holding up the rest of my body, most of the time. It's not that I didn't like how I looked, I just thought I could look better. I had blond hair but a golden blond. And big Hazel eyes with a pair of UN-matching, naturally red lips. I looked down at myself, and didn't like it, but what was I to do? I grabbed my bag and adjusted my rectangular glasses.
"I'm ready, you good to go?" I asked Eleanor. She shrugged her shoulders and we left out the door.
Eleanor and I hadn't noticed in the room, but our clock was apparently running slow. So as Eleanor was locking our door, I looked up at the hall clock and started tugging on her sweater.
"Uh Eleanor, I thing wee need to reset our clock later."
"Why would you say that?" she asked. I pointed to the clock. It read 7:24, and breakfast started twenty minutes ago.
"Shit." We said in unison. We then bolted off trying to make the remainder of breakfast and we decided to take the short route to the dinning hall. But thanks to karma, this ended up taking us even longer. But we ran through the hallways weaving and curving through the crowd of upperclassmen on their ways to their early morning classes. We were lucky enough to miss every person, until we turned the corner by the front office when we ran into someone head on and fell over.
"Hey, watch where your going numskull!" I yelled.
"Uh... Jeanette...." Eleanor said in a nervous whisper.
"What was that Ms.O'Connell?" a deep and fearsome voice said from above me. I looked up to see our head master, Mr. Highland, Standing above us with a stern and angry look on his plump face. I looked into his face and got an instant feeling of terror.
"Oh, Mr. Highland... I didn't see you there... sorry about the numskull thing..." I said trying not to sound too nervous.
"So why are you two ladies running through the hallways? Hm... you wouldn't happen to be LATE for something, now would you?" He glared down at us and his mustache twitched. We looked up at him and knew we were in for it.
After about five minutes of Mr. Highland lecturing us on the importance of punctuality, we finally made it to breakfast just in time for us to be able to share a pop tart.
"Hey, where have you guys been?" Brittney Miller asked us. She looked at me with her angry brown eyes. She was short as well. A little bit taller than Eleanor, but not much, she had long, dark, flowing brown hair, but she normally had it up in a pony tail.
"Oh Jeanette here was having a dream about Nate Jeffery." Eleanor said.
"Eleanor! That is not something i want shared with the rest of the world ya... know..." I trailed off as my eyes locked into a star.
"Jean?" Brittney said, "What's wrong with her?" She looked at Eleanor.
"I don't know, Jeanette are you okay?" Eleanor asked me. But I couldn't hear either of them over the Bryan Adams song that had started in my head. And it was all because of him. Ren Berlin, the hottest guy in school, and my best friend. He was walking straight towards me with his brilliant smile, his firey red hair and his bright blue eyes.
Ren and I have been friends since before we were born. Our moms had been college roomies and after that, they had become as close as sisters. In addition, they were convinced that they would have daughters and they would both be as close as they were. A regular mother daughter times two thing. Except, when Mrs. Berlin found out that she was in fact having a boy, not a girl, they kind of dropped the whole thing. But who would have guessed we would have become best friends anyways. And then we grew up. He became the popular jock, and straight "A" student. And I became the nerdy, band geek that people felt sorry for.
"Hey, Jeanette." I heard him say as I broke away from memory lane.
"Oh hi, Ren." I said sheepishly back. I could tell from the glowing laughter in his eyes that he could tell were my mind had just been.
"So Jean," He said as he said down next to me, "I was wondering."
"Yeah?" I answered back ready to do anything for him.
"Could you maybe find time to edit my column for the school newspaper?"
"Oh," I said kind of disappointed, "Okay sure." He smiled at me and reached in his bag to pull out a wrinkly piece of lined paper. He handed it to me and I looked at it. I looked like hi had used it as a napkin on BBQ day.
"This is your column?" I said to him raising one eyebrow. He looked at me embarrassed and said,
"Yeah, I know it looks like shit now, but I'll type it up before I hand it in to the editor."
"You mean I'll type it up. I know how you handle papers." I said and stuffed the paper into my bag.
"Really Jean?" he said and pretended to be surprised. "No, I can't ask you to do that for me."
"Ren, you're not asking me, I'm telling you. I'm typing it for you and I will tun it into the editor. I need to give him my pictures anyways.
"Right your pictures. And anything else?" I looked at him. The truth was yes, I did have something else. But I couldn't tell him. I couldn't tell anyone. I'm the 'Dear Daisy' columnist. So I know all the secrets of the school and with power like that, I have to keep it a secret. And that's why the editor set me up as a photographer. But Ren is convinced that that's not all I do. Ever since I got my position as Daisy, he's been on my case, snooping around trying to figure me out. Which is his job, seeing as he's the paper's 'Facts, Opinions, and Dirt' reporter.
"No Ren, just the pictures, I Swear!"
"Well in any case you're too sweet Jean. Thanks, see ya fourth hour. Bye ladies." He said as he got up and walked away.
"Bye Ren!" Eleanor and Brittney said in unison.
"Jean, I don't know why you haven't tapped that yet." Brittney said. I looked at her confused.
"What did you just say?"
"Uh.... please don't hit me Jean!" she begged. I started laughing at her.
"Come on Britt, let's go before Frau yells at us for being late again." I said and we headed off to German.
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