I wrote parts of this a year ago, during Christmas Break. Continuing it again, finally recollected inspiration for it. This is Part 1 out of 4. Currently working on Part 2. This is like one of the only things I actually wrote an outline for. Wrote the outline tonight. Should be interesting.
PART ONE: A FRUITFUL BEGINNING
Prologue:
As the eight figures stood at the top of the hill, they rejoiced, throwing their hats into the air, merrily chatting. The sun was just setting; it was a beautiful night, candles with a strong scent of strawberry lit around everywhere. One figure, a boy, took another figure, a girl, and started twirling her in a stance. Music started playing. The figures started to dance. The boy’s name was Thomas Willisson. He had brown hair with the tinge of blond side burns. He was staring at the girl in a way that fell true deep in his heart. The girl had thoughtful green eyes, as she stared back, sharing the same feeling. He lifted his hand to touch her soft face, gently brushing away her shimmering orange hair to kiss her cheek. She smiled at him, flashing him her white teeth and laughing.
Another couple started to dance. He was a tall young man with mighty cheekbones and the face of his father many knew well. He took the short girl in the red dress and held her in his arms. The girl smiled at him. He said something that made her giggle. Then she hit him playfully, and took another figure on the sides and started dancing. The music changed. The eight figures went through their whole night dancing until they dropped. It was a night of sheer pleasure, serenity, and peacefulness. It was a night they would never forget.
It was a night they would always long for to happen again, but never would. The eight figures rolled down the hill in their expensive dresses and tuxedos, and climbed into the white limousine, taking them to the after party, where unexpected surprises awaited them.
~
Thomas Willisson sat in his living room on a cold-hearted November morning drinking hot chocolate in a knitted woolen quilt staring at the painting on his mantelpiece. It was truly magnificent. Every dot on the canvas showed an intricate detail representing the picture. Leaves falling, Summer turning into fall, then, snow covering to represent the signs of winter. It was as though the painting represented a bit of Thomas. How everything good in his life could suddenly turn around to dust – then disappear. It felt like a piece of him was missing, a large piece that he would simply not live without. He didn’t know how much time he had spent on the couch in his living room – hours, maybe. But it was probably since July that he had started feeling so goddamn miserable. He had a piece of his heart torn out by a ravishing monster.
His Josey. There were seven words to describe Josephine Franchez: beautiful, gorgeous, downright sexy, sweet, lovable, and dead. Every time he thought of her name, tears streamed down his face, and he would weep for endless hours. How he had pictured them together, forever. She would be in his arms as she rubbed her slender body against his; he would be transfixed by her deep green florescent eyes as he stared into them, he would feel her fire breathing flowing hair and pull her towards him, smelling her daisy-scented cheeks. She would nudge him with her round ambiguous playful nose. Her kissable mouth that fit so perfectly on his. She was beautiful in every extravagant way, arrogant and timid, and she was the only one in his heart and she was his. It was pure bliss.
Thomas had never been willing to admit her tragic death. Instead he spent his whole summer, wasting away in anguish, dreaming that day had never happened. Josey’s death was not only a great loss, it had seemed to consume Thomas into a heartbroken mode for eternity. It seemed right, they had been dating since they were in kindergarten. Thomas remembered that day.
Thomas was busy scribbling over the table with crayons when a red headed girl with freckles asked, “Hey you, d’you want to go out?”
“Go out where?” Thomas had replied.
“No, silly. Do you want to be my boyfriend?” Thomas had stared blankly into space. “If you say no, I’ll just have to ask ol’ Freddie out there yonder. But I hear he picks his nose, and his mam whips him ev’ry once in awhile, an’ Bill is just nasty, so I’m just goin to have to make you”. Right there at that moment, she closed her eyes, leaned forward, and kissed him.
“Y-yeah”, Thomas stuttered, “Yeah, I’ll be your boy friend.” He tried kissing her back, but they bumped noses. Then he asked, “So who are you?”
“Josephine Gelfaine Valentina Rose Franchez, but call me Josey. What’d be yours?”
“Thomas”, he had replied. And they had been lovers ever since. At least Thomas was. He had fallen straight for her right when she kissed him.
He pictured her, wearing a soft silk white nightgown, surrounded by daffodils and roses – those were her favorite. He would spend all his days making her a garden, and they would lie together in grass, playing, nudging each other, flirting, and he would try to kiss her, but she’d back away, and ask him if he loved her. I really do, Thomas thought. But something had held him back. If he really truly loved, why couldn’t he bring himself up to say it? If only he had some guidance… a sign, something to tell him that this was the safe path for him to go…
He heard a familiar tune of, "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley, his and Addy’s song. Where was this music coming from? He automatically slammed his hand in his pocket and picked out the disturbance.
"What’s up", he piped up, still drifting off in his thoughts.
"Dude? Daydream much?" It took a couple ten seconds for Thomas to switch back to reality. Thomas froze and looked around. Sure enough, there he was, the scruffy dirty-blond skater boy in a Green Day T-shirt and baggy pants. Ellis Mattock standing outside his house, looking through Thomas’ window. His best friend chuckled, "I cannot believe you man."
Ellis Mattock. There were so many things Thomas could say about Ellis, but the first thing he would think is he was the cockiest guy in Zuckerburg High. He came in tenth grade. He always had a skateboard around his arm, and a beautiful girl in the other. The two boys met on the first day of tenth grade. Thomas remembered very clearly.
"Hey - Guy in a band nobody listens to." Thomas turned around. There, standing in front of him was a stocky headed boy all covered in dirt, looking like he was about to throw up. He was about 6 feet tall and badly needed a close shave. There was a skateboard at the edge of his feet, and three girls standing beside him. Typical skater boy, Thomas had recalled thinking.
"Hey yourself", Thomas had replied, "Its Blackdom, and we do have quite a few listeners for your information", although Thomas had very much wanted to say," Fuck off, and stay out of my way."
"More like, Black Doom", giggled Alysha, slung around the New Boy's arm. "Nobody listens to it except for his mother. And the people he pays to come." The two girls beside Alysha giggled as well. It was amazing how thick some people could be.
Thomas stared. Intrigued by this new defiance, he turned around. He didn’t have time to converse with anybody right now. All he needed to do is to find a date to Homecoming and –
"No, I like it. Blackdom. Nice ring to it", the new boy was saying.
"Thanks", Thomas frowned, but started to grin.
"No problemo. The name's Mattock. Ellis."
"Thomas", they shook hands, and instantly became friends. It was the start of a new beginning, something extraordinarily new.
The clock was ticking, and Thomas Willisson was still sitting on his couch, staring at Ellis. He hardly noticed the snow drifting off the roof onto Ellis’ head.
“Well, are you going let me in, or am I going to have to smash this window?” Ellis yelled. Thomas scrambled towards the door, unlocked it, and sat back on his couch. Where was he? Oh yeah, Josey –
"Dude, you have GOT to stop sitting in your house all day. It wrecks my rep, bro! If you don't stop thinking about your one and only babe, I-I'm going to start hanging out with the Wokkies!" The Wokkies were Evan and Laurence Wokkie. Twins obsessed about gaming who spent their days picking noses and eating Doritos. They could be very convincing. Never the right crowd to be around. Couldn’t blame them about the Doritos though – they were downright tasty.
"Anyway, I won some tickets, don’t ask how I got them, to Paris for Christmas Vacation and you're coming. You have until Friday to pack!
"Repeat, please?" Thomas was too shocked to think.
"We're going to Paris, France -- Me, Pierre, Kiel, Jen, Addy, and YOU, lover-boy. Get moving."
~
It's going to be okay. Breathe in one-two-three, and out one-two-three. Pierre La Ruthe stared at the ceiling, lying on the bed. After graduation, all the pressure had ended. Not really. As the Mayor’s son, it was crucial for him to study for LSATs. To go to Harvard. To study Law. Not that he had minded, really. All the studying, he liked that stuff. He liked Law. But he wanted to become… an author of some famous screenplay. None of his Get Rich Quick Schemes had actually worked… Luckily, Ellis Mattock came for a visit last night and informed him of the trip to Paris that was happening tomorrow. He was going to Paris for Christmas break with Kiel, Jen, Thomas, and Addy. He planned to start writing in Paris, and then maybe surprise his father with a published book when he got back. Would his father really like that? Bundle up in joy and then buy him a shining red Mercedes Benz?
But he was going on this trip no matter what. Here he was, at the end of November, packing for Paris. He’d be leaving the next day with his friends. How he’d missed them all. He missed Jennifer Boycott, his ex, they were friends now so it was okay. He missed Kiel Farthen, his best friend since kindergarten – they had been through a lot together. He missed Adalyn, the beautiful Russian Princess. Lastly, he missed Thomas, the lover boy. of course he’d seen Ellis who informed him only yesterday of this trip.
Pierre slammed his fist on the table. He wished he had more time. Applying to university, basically slammed a barrier in his face. He needed to get out, and do things, not practically live in the library! He wanted to have a break, even though the application was due tomorrow, and he’d only finished half of his profile. He needed to get out, and do something. He called Adam Lee, his Chinese drinking buddy, who’d presented him with fake I.D.s for his 17th birthday.
“Only two more years, so it ain’t really cheating”, Adam had told him, “Dun worry, I’m a professional. I do this shit all the time!” At first, Pierre was offended, being the Mayor’s son. His dad would kill him if he found out. But Pierre trusted Adam with his life, and drinking didn’t seem like such a bad thing. There was an incident, when Pierre found his dad half naked in boxer shorts in a room at Ruby’s all over some red head in her undergarments. Pierre didn’t know how long he was standing there staring, but he knew it had gone too far when his dad’s hand had crawled to her back, unhooking her bra strap.
So every time Pierre had gone underage drinking he had always reminded himself of the incident, thinking it was okay if the Mayor had done it, he’d do it as well. But strictly speaking he had never told anybody he was still a virgin. He just never was really that attracted to anyone in bars, if he didn’t know them personally – to do what he wanted to do. Now, Pierre had seen Paris as an opportunity of chance, maybe he’d meet somebody he found attractive have the chance to lose his virginity.
Adam had answered the phone, in some foreign language. He was probably saying “Who the hell is this?” in Chinese, Pierre guessed.
“It’s me, Pierre,” he said into his cell phone, “I’m walking up to 41st, need to get out…”
“Pierre! Oh, thank god you called. I have an emergency situation. Meet at Ruby?”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about”, Pierre nodded happily. Emergency Situation was the code-name for hot, delicious, available blonde girl. “Yum.”
~
If you glanced at every single person who walked by you, what would you think? If you judged every person gliding by your side how much time would you have wasted? If you paid attention to every single detail from the click clacking of your own heels to the number of pimples on that man’s face, what would you gain from it? These were just a few of the many thoughts that swirled upon the head of one distraught Adalyn Push.
Adalyn was walking in the mall with one of her closest friends, Jennifer Boycott. They were shopping for supplies for Paris, but neither had bought anything entirely useful. From perfumes, to summer dresses, to lingerie, to On-sale sandals. None of which could help them survive in the winter cold.
“You have something on your mind,” Jennifer said listlessly. “It’s bothering me.” Adalyn glanced at her friend in a frowning manner.
“Shouldn’t it be bothering me?”
“Yeah, I suppose, if you want to be smart with me,” replied Jennifer, untying the French twist in her curly brown locks of hair.
“Er, well I can’t help but think, well,” Adalyn paused, “that maybe…”
Jennifer was quick to the chase. “It’s a boy,” she said while flipping through the sunglasses section.
“How did you know?”
“Couldn’t you guess? I have a degree in Psychasy, or Permeology, or whatever they call it.”
“It’s called being psychic,” Adalyn replied, “and no one in the world can really be perfectly legitimate.” Jennifer didn’t answer, she had a pile of sunglasses in her basket and was moving onto the next section: make-up.
“Who’s this boy? Is Kiel giving you problems?” Jennifer asked, almost too politely.
“No it’s not Kiel – it’s somebody else.”
“Oh, so you’re cheating?”
“No, we just dated a few times and then we only went to prom together. Besides, he’s 16, Jen. What am I supposed to do about that?”
“Just Prom, Addy? That was a once in a lifetime experience. You only get one moment to shine.”
“Easy for you to say. You were pretty occupied,” Adalyn sniffed. Jennifer’s face twitched and resumed to its original position.
“You know, sometimes you’ve got to stick to the things you have already, and cherish them.”
“You mean don’t take things for granted.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I said.”
“No, you said that 5 sunglasses is never enough for a woman.”
“That’s off-topic, Addy.”
Adalyn flipped through the sunglasses. “You took all the good ones!” She gasped patriotically.
“Learn from the best,” Jennifer smirked. “So who is this guy anyway? Is he hot? Can I date him?”
“Jen!” Adalyn smacked her playfully. She pictured him, his warm beautiful face with his chisled features. She had loved him for ages. Even before she met him. He had curly bronze hair, and a smart tongue with going along with everyone else. But he wasn’t hers. “He’s…with somebody else.”
“Really. How scandalous. I like it.”
“Besides, I don’t need to be a psychic to tell that you’re pissed off as well.”
Jennifer stopped. She glared at Adalyn. “What’s your thing, at the moment? Can’t you just mind your own beeswax? Jesus, Addy, I thought you knew better.”
Adalyn said, “Omigosh Jenn! How thoughtful of you, to think of yourself, because in the real world, everyone totes bows down to you and they don’t think a thing of it.”
“Can I help you ladies?” Said a familiar thin masculine voice.
It was Kiel Farthen, Adalyn’s “boyfriend”. He was as usual dressed in a brown overcoat with a black top-hat, and he had binoculars hung around his neck, for sight-seeing. Kiel was only technically dating Adalyn, for they went to Prom together, only for a short while after Evan Wokkie and broken up with her. The only difference Kiel had from any of the other friends in the group was that he was 16 years old, and way more brilliant. He studied his entire life and never stopped. There was never any time for gaming, or partying. There wasn’t even any time for friends until his counselor recommended him to “find friends.” It was then Ellis Mattock came up to him, jock to loner and asked him for a favor.
“I need you to do me a favor,” Ellis had said. At the time, Kiel didn’t even know who he was – Ellis was just some big buff dude who knew when to beat people up.
Slowly, Kiel had fingered his wallet in his back-pocket and held it out. Ellis had roared with laughter.
“Seriously?” He laughed, “You seriously think so low of me?”
“Well, I’m used to it,” Kiel had muttered.
“Honestly, kid – cut me some slack. All I’m asking is to you to help me out a big here. I’m not going to beat you up, just because you won’t give me your lunch money,” he laughed some more. Kiel was really starting to like this guy. He was pretty nice compared to all the other bullies. If he kept this up --
“Just listen here. There’s this girl…”
“Lemme guess. You want me to confess to her your love?” Kiel blurted out.
“No, kid. I want you to take her out on a proper date.”
“This is some kind of joke, right?”
“No I’m serious kid. She needs someone for her. You’re it. You’re the one – I picked you. Most luckiest kid in the school – she’s pure royalty. Descended from a Russian czar. Can’t go bad with that one. Excellent beauty.”
“Okay, I’ll do it,” Kiel had said. After all, what had he to lose? Sure a couple of hours of A.P. Physics, but no more bullying…ever…for life? That was something he could not pass on.
“Hey kid, what grade are you in anyway?”
“Your grade…” Kiel said. Ellis raised his eyebrows. Apparently leaping 2 grades was now a good thing. That was good. Kiel had now found himself, a protector for good. He was definitely in. Ellis had patted his head and walked away. Then after his first date with Adalyn, they started hanging out more, and soon Kiel had found himself with a new group of friends.
“Can I help you ladies?” Kiel had said bluntly. Jennifer was still plainly frustrated. Adalyn was getting more and more infuriated. Were these girls seriously both PMSing? Same time? Girls were confusing, and maybe that’s why guys were always pursuing them…for the challenge?
Adalyn was the first to speak, “I think we’re good.” She walked to the checkout station to process her goods. Kiel was left standing with Jennifer. Kiel started to open his mouth, but was interrupted immediately.
“Don’t start with me,” she said bleakly. Kiel frowned and followed Jennifer to the checkout where he miraculously found all clearance summer items. Girls, so confusing, he thought. That was the last day of shopping, and they were all ready to leave the next morning.
