This story isn't actually a short story...nor is it a novel. I wrote it and had no idea what to do with it.
Chapter 1: The Beginning of All Things
Living in a small town would be dream for a busy New Yorker like me; at least I think it would be great. I’m a 16 year old girl that likes adventures and wild treasure hunts. My brother and two sisters think I’m a bit on the loony side of life but I think that they’re the ones that are wasting their life playing digital games and spending hour a day in social networks. Plus, I’d like to think myself as eccentric and artistic rather than crazy and a clown. I love reading, visiting museums and go to exhibitions when I get the chance. I love learning about things that people used to do or have. Learning about how people revolute. My uncle Jack really thinks I have a mature mind for my age, he would come up to me saying stuff like “Kids your age should be worrying about boys or what color socks you should wear to school. Not politics and its history” I would get really angry but I just pretend that I’m really into what ever book I’m reading the time. I don’t need people telling what I should be interested in. Like I said, I am eccentric and artistic, I can never express my self through boys and colored socks, or so I thought.
My parents work all day and my siblings; well they have “stuff” going on in their lives. I’m the youngest. So I don’t really talk much with any of them, it doesn’t really matter because they’re all grown up and live elsewhere. My eldest brother is married with no kids and my two sisters are both 19 years old (yes they are twins), are in college. I’m the only one left living with my extremely busy parents. My mom owns a restaurant near Central Park and my dad sort of runs it. He manages the payroll, the marketing, that sort of thing. My mom just focuses on the food. Her cooking is great! She once had to cook for the Royal British family when they visited the States, it was huge. They loved her food. My mom published more than 20 cook books and all of them were sold out. I guess people love her. I should appreciate her more, that’s what my neighbors would say buy what is there to appreciate when I barely see her. There are days I’d wake up and see a note on the fridge saying that she’s off to Washington or Paris. The great part of her going away is that one; my dad would have to follow her. Two, they leave me alone without an unnecessary babysitter, my aunt Gloria. Three, I could have a chance to eat normal food like pizza or Chinese take out. Lame I know but it’s what I love to eat. Not only that, I could read books all day and roam around New York until its 3 am. Cool and free. Dangerous too, I know.
Unlike my family, I am the only one that has really dark black hair with hazel eyes, and a burst of freckles on my nose and cheeks. I’m tall for my age; well that’s what people tell me. It’s a good thing I don’t have frizzy hair and need glasses to see, or not I’d be one of the skimpy kids at school. Not that there is anything wrong with looking like that but it helps going to school bully free. The rest of my family inherited very light brunette hair with grey eyes, with slightly tanned skin. I however have very pale skin. “You take over you grandma, on you dads side. You look gorgeous, love” my mom would always say this after someone, somewhere would have thought I wasn’t part of the family. I don’t get offended; I just would like people to mind their own business. Being different is hard.
As usual, I’d wake up, get ready for school and eat the breakfast pack my mom had left me. I’d eat it on my way to school. Walking to school is great, I love walking through parks and smelling the freshly brewed coffee people sell on the streets and greeting new faces as I pass by. Most of all, I love collecting the heart shaped like pebble someone would leave me on the curb before entering the school premises. Its weird I know but before this, I had no interest in the small stones but one day, this person accidently left a sack of pebbles on the street and I picked, left a note and kept the pebbles safe. The next day, he replied my note which said
“You could leave the pebbles here today around 3.00pm today. I’ll pick it up,”
It was really exciting contacting a total stranger. I didn’t tell anyone this because I know they’d just tell me that I might be contacting a lunatic or a pervert. So, I kept it to myself. That day, I left the pebbles where he wanted me to, I waited for a person to collect it but my gut was telling me that I should just leave. So it has been a year since I received these beautiful shaped pebbles. Every week there would be one. Sometimes the pebbles would just lay there, at other times the pebbles would be equipped with a note, asking my name and age and other things about me. I would leave him a message carrying the same questions. The last note I received said “I want to meet after school. I’ll be here,” I didn’t know if I wanted to meet him, I didn’t know if I should. But I liked our constant note sharing and mysterious pebble handouts. I didn’t want it to change. This whole meeting thing really got me thinking. I wasn’t afraid meeting a lunatic, I know he’s 16 years old; his name is Ethan and loves the exact things I do. He can’t be a whack job, right? I seriously didn’t know what to do, I really wanted to meet him but would it change our relationship? Would he want my cell phone number? Would we be social network friends instead of note buddies? Gosh, I didn’t want anything to change. I didn’t know if it should. I wish I had girlfriends I could talk to about this. I realized that I was always busy either concentrating on studying or reading a book, I didn’t take an effort to make friends. I head kept on rethinking the situation, over and over again until someone called out my name.
“Amy! Answer the question,” Mrs. Pierce, my literature teacher called out annoyed. “Right! Um...What question was it again Mrs. Pierce?”I ashamedly admitted to not paying attention.
“I don’t get you Amy. You’re one of the brightest students we’ve got here but all you do is float in the clouds all day. It’s a wonder how you maintain such good, well good is an understatement, maintain such excellent grades,” She continued walking towards her desk. All I did was smile and sat there; I looked at the screen in front of the class and realized that I had actually missed out 2 whole periods of literature. I had no Idea we were discussing Sir Thomas Wyatt a 16th century poet. I felt really bad that I wasn’t paying attention so I raised my hand and thought I could possibly contribute to the class discussion “Yes Amy, do you have anything to say about Sir Thomas before going to lunch,” the teacher looked at me, with hope in her eyes. I looked at the clock and comprehended that we had 20 minutes to spare so I thought how I could make this boring looking poet, a writer and pioneer of sonnets look or at least seem more interesting.
“Well, Sir Thomas Wyatt is like the Einstein of physics. Without him, sonnets or to us short and weird form of poetry wouldn’t have existed. For some, they would say, so what? But can you imagine a banana split ice cream without chocolate fudge or brownies on top or a book without numbering? Sure we can live without it but life would feel plain and undetermined. That’s what his work is all about, the beauty, the sugar coating and the icing of the cake, the precise necessity of something in the form of words. Come on guys, don’t you all know who this dude is?” I questioned as I looked at the puzzled faces of my classmates. I decided to continue, “Okay, check it. He’s known for his poetry and for his scandalous life. He was rumored to get it on with Anne Boyle, the queen of England and was locked up in some tower until his friend bailed him out. You guys should totally read up about him since he’s gonna be in our next test. So easy,” I finished as I pointed out the last line on the screen indicating that there was going to be an essay about this poet. Hoping that whatever I said made a difference to the almost dying class. I looked around and realized that everyone was taking down whatever I said. I felt kind of happy that I helped Mrs. Pierce in doing her job. I really do think that the teenagers now should be more educated about these things rather than worrying about updating their facebook and twitter status. “Thank you,” Mrs. Pierce whispered as the students all were heading out for lunch. “No sweat,” I responded.
The hallways were very noisy and students were talking at the top of their lungs, as usual. I just wanted to head to the library and finish whatever homework I had so that when I get home I could focus on reading and applying for this art seminar at the New York arts museum conducted by NYU. It would be interesting if I could enter for free. All I got to do is write a 2000 word essay regarding art and history within the next 20 years. Easy!
I reached the library, went straight to my permanent ‘lunch table’ and started to do my homework. I was half way done with my math homework and it hit me, I might have to meet this mystery man today. I instantly panicked. Did I want to meet him? Did I want him to meet me? Obviously I was having doubts, he might have them to. What if I go there, he’s no where to be seen? What if he shows up and takes one look at me and instantly runs. Oh gosh!
“Enough! Do your homework and when the time comes you’ll know what to do,” I monologue. “I think you should seriously get out more Amy. I mean I understood you had this passion in books and words but talking to them really is a scary sight, “Chris, my library ‘partner’. He’s not really a partner, its just that he was caught drinking and smoking on school grounds a few months ago, so in order for him not to get expelled or have a permanent black mark on his record, the school made an agreement with him. He has to volunteer as a librarian for a whole year, 13 months to be exact. So, I’ve known him for about 4 months now. Before this I’d only see him hanging out with the cool kids, assuming he’s a total loser but now that I got to know him, he’s really nice and very friendly. Plus, I know I promised him I wouldn’t tell a soul and I hope it stays that way, he secretly loves reading about folk myths and magical creatures. At first I laughed and said, vampires and Dracula’s are the same species and made fun of him but then he explained to me that he wasn’t into that type myths. He meant like the history of the dragon, trolls and giants, that sort of ‘researches’ which I still laughed at him. All of which, according to him, hasn’t been proven as totally bogus. Some believe that dragons are similar to the snake, trolls are like deformed human beings and giants are overgrown humans. He’s so into this he even constructed a book which shows all these scientific terms, whereabouts and the possibilities of these events ever happening. Pretty amazing if you ask me, it’s because of this I might have a slight crush on him, his looks helped in that area too.
“Haha…very funny. Um…remember Ethan?’ I asked. “Yeah, the name. The story on how you know him is still a mystery, “he answered hoping I’d tell him this time. “Well, should I meet him? Am I cool enough to do that? What if he doesn’t show or even worse, he shows and leaves the second he looks at me,” “You’re over thinking it Amy. You’ve never met him before?”He surprisingly asked me. I smiled and told him parts of the story. I left out the pebbles and place, I only told him about the notes. He said that I should meet him and that I worried way too much for a genius kid. “Serious Amy, you’re like 16 years old, you skipped 2 grades and already published like 3 books. Why do you even care about what this unknown Ethan guy thinks of you?”Chris trying to make me feel better.
“Because, when it comes to liking someone, no matter what age you are, you’ll worry and worry and keep on worrying,” I answered as packed up my first time ever unfinished homework. “You like him? Seriously?” Chris asked with a slightly worried look on his face. “Shocked much?” I asked smiling that he was actually showing an interest. “Honestly, yeah. Smart girl like you should know that people lie. Heck I know I lied about my age more than once to get some…you know. What makes you think you might like someone that could totally be a lie,” him showing his concern. “Well that’s a heartbreak story I should write about. You’re so weird, one minute you’re telling me to meet him and then now you want me not to? You are very unpredictable, “I replied, leaving the library.
School ended and I decided that I wasn’t going to meet ‘him’. I listed down the pros and cons of the meeting and realized that I was a really negative person. Therefore, I decided not to meet him.
Days went by and I forgot about the whole incident until one day a pebble was waiting for me with a pink envelope underneath it. The note inside the envelope read “I waited the other day, you didn’t show. Was this because you think I’m crazy? Ethan.”
Really sad to know that I made him upset. I could tell by his writing. I picked up the pebble and hurried in school. As the bell rang Chris came up to me and snatched the note. “Seriously Chris, hand it over!” I screamed without noticing how loud I had been. The look on Chris’s face was heartbreaking. He handed me the note and what I thought he would never do was take my hand and asked me while walking me to my next class “You didn’t meet him the other day, I saw you went straight home. I’m happy you didn’t meet him. You free tonight? Kinda need your tutoring skills for our chemistry class,”
“You’re not mad? You know, for embarrassing you like that?” I had to ask. “Amy, who am I?” he asked. “Chris,” I answered. “Exactly, Chris the quarterback, the basketball captain and the most good looking person in the school,” the very egoistic Chris replied, but making me feel better. I just rolled my eyes and said that I was free. Told him that we could meet up in the school library after school but he had another idea. “Your place? Sounds cool to me. Wait for me outside okay. Later Amy, sports waits for no man, “as I watched Chris run towards the gym I could hear another person calling my name. A voice I was actually happy to hear. “Amy, the principle would like to see you,” Miss Black, the school secretary notifying me.
I gave her a smile and went straight to the Principle’s office. I waited there until Mr. Staple was finished consulting another student. I could hear that he was angry, the student was a freshman, and she disobeyed a teacher. As I was ease dropping, a boy sat besides me. “Hey, in trouble or geek freak?” he asked. I ignored him. He was one of the cool kids used to hang with Chris. Ever since last summer, what once used to be a decent looking kid, turned to Goth. He used to have very blond hair, now it’s as black as mine; he’d wear black clothes and always have this “I’m better than you” face on. I think his name was Mike…Mark… “Alex, you could come in now,” the principle called the guy sitting next to me. “I’ll be with you a minute Amy,” Mr. Staple added. I nodded and smiled that the name I guessed was far from Alex’s actual name. The school bell rang and I hoped that this wouldn’t cost my first period of math. I love math, it’s challenging and complicated but great when you understand what numbers are trying to tell you. “Amy,” Mr. Staple called. I noticed that Alex was still in the room. In my head I begged to God that I wasn’t in trouble, I didn’t want to get embarrassed in front of Alex. “Have a seat,” gesturing me to the empty seat right next to Alex. “First of all, the NYU chairman would like to give you this letter. An acceptance for the seminar they’re having this weekend. I believe the talk is a four day event, so I excused you from school,” he explained. “Freak and a geek. Great!” Alex interfering. “Enough Alex. Now, thank you for applying through the school. You have no idea what this means to us. Now, the second issue for this minor meet up is that Mr. Michaels here has a problem in Math and Chemistry. I would like it if you were to tutor him,” He ended.
I looked at Alex and then I looked at Mr. Staple. I didn’t know what to say. I felt really bad if I didn’t help both of these guys out. Obviously Alex needed my help but didn’t want it but Mr. Staple really wanted me to help him. I said that I’d do it and left the room. I didn’t even discuss the matter with him, the timetable or anything. Geez. I collected the time slip from the secretary and headed to class, Alex was a few steps behind me. I tried walking as fast as I could so that I didn’t have to talk to him. I opened the class door, handed the slip to the teacher and sat down. I looked over my right and eyed Chris, he looked worried so I smiled and then Alex walked it. “Late again Mr. Michaels,” the teacher questioned him. “I’ve a pink time slip for this time; I was with…what her name…Amy, I was with her,” Alex said while sitting down and pointing right at me. I looked at Chris and realized that he wasn’t happy with what Alex said; I looked at him a pretended that it was nothing. Only I knew how angry I was, cursing inside.
Lunch. Library. Chat with Chris, avoiding the whole Alex topic and went to class. It was 3.15pm and I was waiting outside for Chris until I realized that there was another pink envelope under another pebble. First time this happened, two deliveries in a day. I walked over there and picked up the envelope and sat down on a nearby bench. The note read “I hope you’re not avoiding me. I forgot to put this in this morning. Love Ethan”
I smiled and searched for what he had forgotten, it was an invitation card to an art exhibition in Manhattan’s most famous art gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I read about the art exhibition details and it was so interesting. I would love to go. I kept the notes in my diary and looked at my watch. 3.30pm. Chris must have forgotten, I didn’t have his phone number so I started to walk home.
The breeze was great that day and waiting for Chris made no sense. He might be busy practicing with his basketball buddies or flirting with some cute cheerleader, not that I was jealous or anything, I just didn’t want to waste my time. As I started to walk I could hear someone approaching me and I knew it was him.
Chapter 2 will be posted soon~