Chapter 3: Dying butterflies
1165 Words
Chapter 3: Dying butterflies
Clare's POV
“Excuse me.”
I pushed through the small crowd of girls that had gathered at the entrance of the registry office to get to the person who was playing the male lead Miss Adella had told me to meet with for my lines for the play.
Just as I squeezed through the last two giggling girls, I came face-to-face with a chest.
I almost slammed myself into it but hands stretched out, holding me in place.
“Watch where you're going, four eyes,” he said, without even looking at me.
The familiar voice of Christian Vale met my ears. I’ve replayed our first interaction a thousand times and this has never popped into my head.
It felt like my tongue was stuck.
So I gave him a small nod, adjusting the bag on my shoulder and ignoring the thousands of butterflies that just hatched in my belly.
He touched me!
Christian Vale freaking touched me. I screeched in my head. I was pretty sure my face had turned as red as a beet already. I took in deep breaths and walked to his side.
He was talking to the senior student I was supposed to meet and he paid no mind to me at all.
“How may I help you?” the senior finally said when he noticed me and he threw a small smile my way. I returned the smile and adjusted my glasses before speaking.
“Miss Adella told me to meet with you for my lines in Hearts In the Rain,” I said and he nodded, going through the files on the desk.
Christian had brought out his phone and was texting someone with a frown on his face.
“What role are you playing?” he asked and my mouth went dry.
“Female lead.”
Christian flinched and spun around so quickly, I thought he was going to suffer from whiplash.
“Did you just say that you'll be the female lead?” he asked, with disbelief and shock in his voice.
The butterflies in my tummy were dying slowly and it was giving me a stomachache. I wanted to be out of here.
“Y-yeah. I did say that.” I stammered and he frowned deeply.
He then turned to the senior who looked at me pitifully, throwing his hands in the air.
“What was Miss Adella thinking of making her my female lead? Can you believe it? She's a goddamn nerd for crying out loud, what could she even possibly do?”
I stared at him in shock, my mouth slightly open. So much for a first impression on my long-time crush.
The images and memories I had created of us, in different timelines faded away as tears brimmed in my eyes.
The senior finally handed me my lines and turned to Christian with a look.
“That isn’t a nice thing to say, man.”
Christian just huffed going back to his phone and his dismissal made me angry.
“Y-you don't get to say that.”
He turned to face me, his brow raised in a questioning look.
“Sorry? Did you just speak to me?”
“Yes.” I clenched my fists and mustered up all the courage I could.
“You don't get to look down on my acting skills simply because I'm a nerd. You don't know anything about me.”
He smirked, “I know you like to keep your head stuck in a book all day.”
“And that's supposed to be a bad thing because? Don't tell me you shade intelligent people because you aren't one.” I didn't know when those words came out of my mouth. I was expecting some sort of reply but he was just staring at me… as if he was really seeing me.
His stare made me squirm where I stood, feeling uncomfortable so I turned and ran. I literally ran to my next class, not bothering to look back for even a second.
—-
“It was terrible, Maggie,” I said into my pillow as I lay upside down on my bed.
I had told her what had happened and she had spent some minutes laughing at me before going down the stairs to get me some orange juice.
“Come on. It couldn't have been that bad. I for one would have paid good money to see his face when you told him off. Just because you have feelings for him doesn't mean you should suck up to him like the rest of the girls at school do.”
She moved closer and ran her hand through my hair, soothing my cracked heart when her phone pinged with a message.
“Ouuu. We're going out tonight,” she announced and I jolted out of bed.
What do you mean by out?”I asked and she shoved her phone in my face.
“There's a frat party tonight at the Red Heart house. You need to go,” she said, looking all excited.
She dropped her phone on the bed and ran to my wardrobe, pulling out clothes for me to wear today.
“Maggie, no.” I groaned. “You know what those parties are like.”
“Exactly! You got the lead role with Christian Flannel! You can’t hide at home like some grandma. You need to celebrate.”
“I'm not going, Maggie. I have a chemistry assignment due in a week and I need to get volunteers for the dog shelter. You'd still show up for that right?”
“Come on, Clare. You can't bail on me every time. This is your time to live like an actual teenager and you're going to throw it all away?”
I didn't say anything and she looked really sad so I just sighed.
“I'll go on one condition that I get to choose what I'm going to wear.”
She rolled her eyes and muttered “Fine.” so I finally got off the bed and picked a set of jeans and a huge sweater. I threw my hair in the usual ponytail and with some sneakers, I was ready to go.
“Did you see my contacts?” I asked Maggie who was getting all dolled up in front of the mirror.
“Nope.”
Damnit. I was going to have to go with my glasses. I placed them on my face and we left the house, sneaking out of the door so as not to wake my father up.
When we arrived, the entire place was packed with so many students, some that I hadn't even noticed down the halls.
“Let's get this party started!” Maggie yelled and I just smiled.
We walked through the doors and just as we did, everyone stopped whatever they were doing and turned to look at us. Or more like look at me.
- Writer
