Ke$ha’s Tik Tok fills my ears bringing me in a dancing mood.
“Wake up in the mornin’ feelin’ like P Ditty,” I sing
I make my pencil beat to the song as I write in my journal.
Dear Journal,
The oddest and 1 in a million thing has happened to me. But I wasn’t too excited about with who it was. Everyone would have wanted to be in my place. I met Zack Gallagher in person; I am not a big fan at all so I wasn’t so excited like I just said. I had to help him sneak out of the movie theater to his hotel (the paparazzi was just too extreme) so I helped him get out and we landed at my house. We talked for a while about life and I found out his life is really tuff. But oh well, it wasn’t so bad, we got along. It was great tho, to meet a celebrity and be normal to him.
I shut my journal and throw it into my shelf dropping my pencil on my desk.
Knock, knock. I look at the door and say “Come in,”
Zack walks in my room blocking the sunlight that was on the caramel door.
“Zack,” I question.
“Surprise,” He smiles.
I smile automatically letting my heart beat faster.
“What are you doing here?” I go to my iPod Soother turning down the music. The blue light makes my iPod shine.
Sterling Knight sings “Hero,” on my Soother.
“I just wanted to visit; your brother was kinda surprised,”
“Of course he was, you are one of his favorite singers,”
“Really,”
I move up to him. “Duh,”
He laughs “You like Disney huh?”
“Yeah, it’s just they break out their true feelings-other than childish Disney,”
“Uhuh, do you enjoy mine as much as theirs?”
“You jealous?”
“Ha, no-just asking,”
I look down at myself taking in my dark short jeans and Aeropostale guitar top.
“I was wondering if you wanted to-,” I cut him off.
“Hold on, you came to ask me out?” My heart starts to go a beat faster.
He shifts “Uh, kind of,”
“Aren’t you dating that-um, what’s her name? Oh, yeah-Jennifer Gaily?”
“No,”
“Well, then you would be falling for non-celebs, not really popular,”
“I said no,”
I look him straight in his eyes “What? But the magazines-,”
“Lies Alex,”
“Oh,”
“Wait, you read about me? I thought you didn’t care,”
I pull my top. “I don’t, I was just-interested,”
“Uhuh,” We both laugh.
Another song fills my room.
“So, will you?”
“What,” My stomach turns making me feel a bit dizzy.
“Go out with me?”
I freeze in my place. This is not right? Am I crazy? I hate him. Okay, I don’t, but Colin.
“I can’t-,”
“Oh, okay,”
A really bad tension forms around us and it makes me wanna run away from this situation.
“Hold on, you don’t get it- I’m dating Colin, remember?” I push his memory.
“Yeah, did he come back?”
“From the party? Yeah, he came to tell me about it earlier,”
The weird tension stays and it really doesn’t feel good.
“That’s good at least.”
“Yup,”
Great, I made him feel bad when I didn’t want that. My heart goes down from the sadness in this.
My brother Frank barges in. “Alex!” he yells.
“What,” He spots me and Zack.
“Am I interrupting?”
No, this is perfect that he’s here the tension has slightly left the room, maybe I should have opened the door earlier-but I don’t think that was it.
“No,” Me and Zack say.
“Good,”
“I was actually just leaving, see ya,” he walks towards the door.
“Wait Zack,” I follow him.
“Frank stay here, I’ll be right back,”
I follow Zack down the stairs trying to stop him.
“Zack we have to finish,” He turns around.
“We finished,”
We continue and get on the 1st floor.
“Hey Alex, can you buy some butter at the store?” My mom asks from the kitchen.
Me and Zack walk by the kitchen and I grab his top. The kitchen is lighted by the sun light from the large windows that brighten the orange walls and brown cabinets.
“Sure mom,”
“Thanks,” I pull him to the garage and shut the door.
“Zack,”
He looks disturbed.
“What,”
“Listen, I don’t wanna leave it like this,”
“Leave what?”
“Oh come on! Don’t be stupid,”
He walks away from me to the center of the garage.
“What is it?” he asks.
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t accept,”
“Is this what it’s about? Come on Alex, everything is fine,”
I walk up to him feeling the need to finish something that is already finished.
“I don’t want you mad,”
“I’m not mad,”
“God, I don’t know what I’m doing. I would never beg for your forgiveness-ever. I would actually be happy we aren’t talking, but now I feel like I want your forgiveness.” I explain.
“But everything is fine,” he looks confused.
“That’s not the point Zack,” I start to jump from one leg to the other.
“Than what’s the point?”
“I don’t know anymore, I think that I-I wanna be close to you, not like before. I always wanted to punch you really good so that you would have a black eye; but not anymore,”
He looks at me with a sincere face and I pull my top.
A better tension has set in between us.
“So you’re saying you have feelings for me,” he finishes my point.
“I don’t know,”
“Yes you do,” he steps closer o me and smiles.
I just remembered-I never checked the text message from last night!
“I guess,”
My heart gets back to its race and my stomach gets its wind wheel to spin faster.
“Well then,”
“I just can’t its-,”
“Colin,” he finishes for me.
“Exactly,”
My phone rings to a catchy toon.
“Hold on,”
I answer “Hello,”
“Hey Lex,” Colin says.
Great, talking of the boyfriend.
“Hi,” I say awkwardly.
“Just wonderin’ if you wanna come over, the house is empty,”
“So you’re home alone?” I see Zack tapping on his phone.
“Uhuh, so are you comin’?”
“No,”
“Why not?” I hear his disappointment.
“Because I’m kind of busy,”
“How about-after what you’re doing?”
“Today is booked, sorry,” My legs shift on the concrete floors.
“Okay then, love ya,”
My body freezes into ice and my mind goes blank. Did he just say what I think he just said he lo-, I couldn’t finish that, I just couldn’t.
“You love me?” I had to make sure of it.
He hesitates which makes me worried. Zack stares at me wondering why I’m frozen still and why I even said that.
“Yes, I do,”
I hang up automatically slipping my phone into my pocket. My body stays still in the horrid shock.
“Alex, are you okay? You’re pale,” Zack touches my arm.
“Not really,” Now for sure I can’t break up with him (and by him I mean Colin.)
“Do you need a doctor?”
Defiantly.
“No,” I snap out of it.
“You need to get that butter,” he says.
“Thanks for reminding me,”
I open my Mini Cooper and hop in leaving the door open.
“Do you wanna come?” I ask Zack.
“Sure, I don’t want you to faint in the store,”
I laugh as he hopes in.
*
It’s dark in the house, its 11pm so it’s obvious why it’s so dark.
I just can’t fall asleep, my eyes lids are dropping but my mind won’t listen. So I decide to get up. I slide on my slippers and put on my cream colored hoodie.
My cell phone is in my pocket and I head down the dark scary stairway.
I’ve always been afraid of the dark and still am, but it’s not that bad. The house it dead silent and I can only see objects that are shined by the moon light. When I get down stairs I put on my blue neon converse and go outside silently to not wake up my parents.
I step outside and see the street lights flashing with a couple of cars passing by. The night is very silent in this village and everybody is sleeping. All the trees and plants seem to be asleep too and the Victorian houses seem to be back in time. I start walking the way to my old elementary school which was only a couple of blocks away from my house. I have to do something to get tired.
My fright grows as I pass all the empty streets with only street lights blinking above their emptiness. I shiver when I hear my phone ring; the silence was just so scary anything would’ve freaked me out.
“Hello,” I answer with a whisper even though no one would have heard me anyway.
“Can you open the back door for me?” Frank asks.
I almost forgot. He was at a party at his best friend Joe’s house (it is Joe’s birthday).
“Don’t you have the keys?” I yawn.
“I forgot them in the house,”
“Ask Jake then,”
“Great idea,”
There’s a moment of silence then “Wait, why can’t you open it?”
“Because I’m not home,” I continue walking.
“Then where are you?” He’s getting scared.
“Outside, walking-I couldn’t fall asleep,”
“I’ll come to you,”
“No, it’s not necessary,” I lie.
“You’re afraid of the dark dufus,”
“Not anymore,”
“Sure,” He adds some sarcasm.
“Uh, bye,”
“Tell me where you are!” He yells.
“Nowhere,” I hang up.
I keep on going straight spotting the school which is lighted up by the street lights and its own lights. What’s weird is that the secretary room lights are on, its summer vacation no one should be there especially this late. My heart thumps harder from the fright.
Now I’m right in front of the school’s back doors standing there and pecking inside. It’s dark except for a light coming from the end of the hallway. I test if the door is open and it is. So I walk in and start my search for who’s there. It’s scary but I wanna get him/her to the police.
My feet make no noise and I continue my way down the hallway pecking at some kid’s artwork and reports that are hanging on the walls. All my heart does is pump harder and I start to sweat once I get closer to the secretary’s office.
“Uh, where is it?” I hear a man’s voice coming from the room.
It makes me shiver but I go on. My phone goes off and I press the off tone.
“What was that?” The man says.
I duck against the gray wall hiding from him.
“I guess nothin’ maybe from outside,” Who talks to themselves? Well everybody does just to make sure they’re safe.
I turn on my phone and put it on vibrate (just in case family calls or something-I might need the police even). My body lifts up and I move forward. I’m at the secretary’s office window and the light is much brighter-it’s coming from the principal’s office.
All I do is walk in and keep silent; as I get closer my body goes into panic. I can see the figure through the door window but I stay hidden, the man is Colin. Colin is sneaking in the elementary school. The whole room is messy with papers flying everywhere and the secretary’s office is not touched.
I open the door as loudly as I can and Colin turns toward at me in shock. The room is covered in light green walls with awards and pictures tapped to the walls. All the cabinets are open letting everything in them to flood the place.
“Alex,” He questions.
“What the hell are you doing here?!” I yell.
“Keep quiet,” He whispers. Colin’s wearing an all black outfit with a flashlight in his hand.
The whole room is piled up with everything flying around.
“You don’t even go to this school anymore!” I whisper.
“I’m trying to find my documents,”
“Not to be the one stealing anything here but they would most likely be in the school you’re now going to or in the secretary’s office idiot,”
“Oh,” He goes pointless.
“Don’t be stupid, you are not here for that,”
He steps closer to me missing all the piles.
“Yes I am, now we have to clean this up,”
“We,” I laugh.
“What,”
“You made the mess-you clean the mess and I kind of doubt you would be that stupid,” I pick at my top.
“I’m looking for my medical documents,”
“Your school that you’re going to has it!”
“What are you truly doing here?” I say after a moment of silence.
“Uh,” He says looking down from embarrassment.
“Come on Colin,”
He turns off his flashlight and pushes me down to sit with him.
“I heard that Zack Gallagher went to this school,”
“And you wanted to see if it was true?” I laugh once again.
“Yeah, you seemed so interested in him that I wanted to know if it’s true or if he’s just pulling your leg,”
“The principal has a list of what kids went to this school, is that what you are looking for- ‘cause his documents would be at the school he’s now taking,” I push the papers off my lap.
“Yup, that’s the thing I was looking for,”
“You got jealous that I hung out with him,”
“He’s a celebrity,”
“So? I hate him,” I lie. I really don’t hate him at all.
“Then why are you hanging out with him?”
“Because I’m nice, he needed a break from everything-I am his friend,”
“So you don’t hate him,”
We both get up and start cleaning.
“No,”
“Then you lied,”
“Just don’t take that seriously, there’s nothing between us,” I find the list.
“Good,” He comes up to me and I hide the list behind my back.
“What’s that?”
“Nothin’ just some garbage,”
“Okay,” He kisses me. I don’t take the kiss very directly and I slide the folded list into my pocket.
“Let’s finish up here,” I say.
We continue cleaning and I take a peek at the list when he doesn’t notice.
He’s on there. Zack Gallagher was only a year older than me. I can’t believe I never noticed him. He went to Mrs. Yale’s class in 4th grade when I just came in to 3rd grade as a new student. Wow that was a while ago. He went to every grade though.
I slide the list into a drawer in the desk and find a yearbook from the year 2004. I open it and sit in the principles leather black chair.
If it was 2004 then I was in 4th grade and he was in 5th. I flip through the pages and find myself, I was so little! The next page was Zack’s. I knew him; of course I did! He was my first crush, and now I hate his guts! What a surprise. The thing is I don’t hate him that much anymore.
I slide the yearbook back to where it was and continue the cleaning with Colin.
“Thanks for helping; you won’t tell anyone about this right?”
“Right,” I reply with a lie.
*
“How did you know I was here?” Colin asks when we walk down the hallway out off the school.
“The light and the unlocked doors made me think someone broke in, I wanted to find the person and get the police here,”
“Smart,” He tries to hold my hand but I pull away.
“Is everything okay?”
I look at the time on my phone and its 11:30pm no wonder I’m pooped.
“Yeah,” We continue walking out.
*
I wake up to a bright 4th of July morning. My mood is already up and I jump out of my guitar covered bed. I make the bed and get dressed in the bathroom doing what else I have to do there. My mood is all the way up as I smell the pancakes getting made downstairs and my minty fresh breath makes me awake.
I get downstairs. “Yum,” I say.
“Pancakes with sausages and sunny side up eggs with warm maple syrup,” My mom explains.
“Even yummier,”
The sun brightens the kitchen and the family is sitting around the wooden island talking to each other making laughs and our small Maltese puppy Jess is eating her breakfast with us.
“Fresh from the pan,” Mom says as I sit down at my plate.
“Yum,” We all start eating and enjoy our start to a great day.
Please comment! I wanna know what you think!
