Chapter Eleven
The rest of the school day had been rather uneventful and having sixth hour physical education was the worst. The instructor, Coach Bram, was crazy. If you weren't on the verge of tears while you were in class, you obviously weren't working hard enough. After class, we returned to the locker room and Kitty disappeared into the showers. I had never showered after PE, but after the workout that period, I knew I would be showering every day. Once the school day was over, I trekked back to my dorm and collapsed on my bed. I was the first to be back and the room was silent. It was peaceful, and I quite enjoyed the silence until Kitty came crashing through the door.
“Hurry and get changed! We're meeting the boys for our first day of favorites in ten minutes!” she chirped, rapping on my door a few times before walking into her own room.
I rolled off my bed and went to my drawers. What on earth was I going to wear? Normally I didn't have this problem. Feeling confident in my appearance for the day, I extracted a pair of shorts and a white v-neck t-shirt and my purple and black scarf. I wrapped it loosely like a bandana around my neck and pulled off my socks. I debated on a pair of flip flops, or my Converse. Finally I decided on my Converse. I didn't know how we were getting to wherever we were going, so they seemed the safer choice. While I finished tying them, Kitty came back into my room, looking stunning in a pair of lace tights and a gray sun dress.
“Ready?” she asked, smiling.
I exited with her, and left the building to find the boys. We found them outside the parking garage. Propped up beside each of them was a shiny motorcycle. All of them? They all drive motorcycles? You have got to be kidding me. I rolled my eyes and walked forward with Kitty. She stepped up to Jay, leaving me to make an impossible decision. I knew Cam wanted me to ride with him, but part of me wanted to ride with Stitch. Cam smiled at me, nodding toward his bike with his head. I glanced at Stitch, who didn't seem too thrilled with my other option. Sighing, I moved to the right where Cam waited, took his helmet, and mounted his bike behind him. With a monstrous rev of the engines we ripped out of the school gates and raced down the street. I clutched Cam tightly, pressing myself close so I wouldn't fall off I began wishing that I had taken my other option. Cam seemed to be showing off because I was on the back of his bike, and not Stitch's. I pressed my thighs against him, trying to keep my legs from being burnt, when we turned around a corner and came to a stop. I sat up and let go of Cam, quickly jumping off the bike and pulling the helmet off my head. I shook my hair out, and heard someone whistle.
“Dang girl,” Cam howled, “You sure know how to work that helmet hair.”
I rolled my eyes. Boys. I glanced around as we walked. There were buildings surrounding the square , and people everywhere! I felt slightly claustrophobic as we pushed past people toward the center of the square where a giant fountain waited. When we reached it, Jay jumped up on the dirty gray-white marble and stretched his arms out wide.
“Welcome to Leicester Square, Laela!” he said, “This is my favorite place to be.” He closed his eyes and breathed a deep breath, suspending it in his chest and exhaling loudly. “Best place to people-watch, and catch a show. Part of the West End, and chalk full of street entertainers. Never a dull moment here!”
He hopped down and smiled while pointing to something behind me. I spun around on my heel to see what he was pointing at, and found myself looking at a gaggle of street dancers and entertainers. Bright colors from the carousel glimmered in the edges of the square, and music filled my ears. I felt my smile growing wider by the second. We didn't have anything like this in Boynton. Even with all the beach crowds it wasn't this amazing! All sorts of performers littered the square; everything from mimes to musicians. Jay ducked and twisted through the crowd, pulling Kitty behind him. She grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me after them. Cam and Stitch followed us closely, puling out of the crowd as we reached a pair of jugglers. I watched in amazement as the pair threw their various objects back and forth to each other. They began with batons and moved to bowling pins, and ended with knives and flaming batons. My gut twisted as I watched them toss the knives to each other, fearing that one would slip and impale the other, or a member of the crowd, but that tragedy was avoided gracefully.
Suddenly Kitty called my name, holding a small pink camera out in front of her. She motioned for Cam and Stitch to move in around me, and I felt Cam's arms lock around my waist. He squeezed my side, causing me to jump, and laugh as Kitty snapped the picture. She took several other pictures as we ran from place to place, documenting our afternoon in Leicester Square. Jay bought us all delicious sweet rolls from a little cafe near the theater while we waited in line for the carousel. Kitty handed me the camera a few times and had me take pictures of her and the boys. When we finally reached the carousel we piled on. Kitty chose an elegant white horse named Katie, Jay chose a brown horse near her named Peter, I hopped on a gray horse, whose name was Charles, Cam mounted backward on a white horse named The Doctor, and Stitch took a black horse named Martha. Kitty snapped picture after picture, passing the camera around so that everyone took a photo and everyone was in a photo. After our ride, I stepped off, dizzy from the spinning, and stumbled away with the others, all of us laughing harder than we had in a long time. On the way back to the center of the square a hand took hold of my arm and tugged me out of our crowd. I found myself in a circle of dancers all chanting for me to dance. Feeling daring, I studied their movements for a moment and then attempted to replicate them.
I was failing with such success that they began to teach me as my friends came back to join them. We struggled to learn their dance, but after a while we were dancing and singing right along with them. Smiling I glanced across the circle to Stitch, whose face was beaming with a gorgeous smile, his green eyes sparkling happily. He spied me watching him and winked. I turned a deep shade of red and ducked my head, watching my feet. After a while of dancing and insane picture taking, we thanked them and left. The sun had begun to set and Jay headed back for the bikes.
“So,” Kitty said, bumping her shoulder into mine, “I noticed that two boys couldn't take their eyes off you today.”
I looked down at the stones on the path, biting my lip and feeling my cheeks flare with heat. “O-oh really?” I replied, keeping my face turned away.
“Yes, really. Two rather attractive young men if I do say so myself.” she winked. “So, hypothetically speaking, if you didn't have a boyfriend and were completely free to choose another boy, which of the two would you choose?”
I glanced up at the sky, gathering my thoughts for a moment before replying, “I'm not sure. I hardly know either of them. But I can say this. Each of them is alluring in their own ways. Cam seems sturdy and safe, with maybe a twist of daredevil in him, but Stitch is different. He's mysterious and seems almost dangerously gorgeous. He's the tall, dark, and handsome one in the story, and the problem is that this princess doesn't know if she wants tall, dark, and handsome, or if she wants her ivory tower more. I know that I could probably be happy with either one of them, but this is all hypothetically speaking, so it doesn't matter what I say right now, right?”
Kitty was grinning at me. “Oh, right, but if you absolutely had to choose one of them, which would it be?”
I glanced at her, scrunching my eyebrows together. “Why does it matter? Are you trying to hint at something here?”
She giggled. “Oh no, not at all, I'm just curious is all.” she paused for a time, staring up at the sky while we walked. “But seriously, if you had to choose between them, which would it be?”
Instantly Stitch's face invaded my mind. I knew I would choose him. There was something about him that drew me to him, but I didn't understand what it was, or why it made me this way. All I could think about was Stitch. He was in my dreams, my reality. It seemed almost as if he was my entire existence now. Every thought rested on him, whether I wanted it to or not.
“If I answer this question,” I said seriously, looking at her again, “the answer goes no where, understand?”
She nodded rapidly. “Yes, I swear, my lips are sealed. Tell you what, I'll even answer the question.”
“You first then,”
She paused for a moment, then sucked in a deep breath and said, “Cam. He's smart, and funny as all get out, and he's one of those people who takes care of his girl, even if it doesn't seem like it. He's there when you need him, even if you're not together. He's been there for me a lot when Jay wasn't.” she sighed, “Plus, he's hot. Him and Jay have been friends for the longest time, and truth be told, before I liked Jay, Cam was my target, but he had a girlfriend, and me, being the nice girl that I am,” she giggled at her joke, “I just backed off, thinking that if I was just the good friend, he would see I was better than that brat Courtney and he'd dump her for me. As you can see that never happened, but he did dump Courtney, which is a plus for everyone.”
I looked ahead at the boys who were talking and laughing in front of us. They all looked so happy, sharing stories loudly and laughing at stupid jokes. I smiled when I pictured Kitty and Cam together. They just didn't click like Jay and her did.
“Hmm, somehow I just can't picture you with him, dear.” I admitted with a laugh.
She laughed with me. “Now that I think about it, I can't either. I'm happy with Jay. He's great, but if I absolutely had to choose between the other two, I would pick Cam. Your turn.”
I sighed deeply, rolling my eyes to the sky. “If I absolutely had to choose between the two of them... Okay, this goes no where! I would pick Stitch.”
She grinned, bumping my shoulder with her palm. “I knew it!”
“Shh! They'll hear you. Goodness, woman.” I rolled my eyes again. “Whatever will I do with you? But yes, I would pick him for reasons that are completely and totally unknown to me. There's something about him that... well I don't know. It just draws me to him. He's the dangerous life I haven't had. Tony was safe... sort of. He's like Cam. That's why I guess I want something... different.”
“That's sufficient answer enough. It seems almost like a fairy tale. You know, like he's Romeo and Tony is Paris. You should pick Tony, but I think ultimately you'll end up picking Stitch. I have a gut feeling.” She seemed resolute in her answer, like she had just delivered some prophecy.
I glanced at her as we approached the bikes. Jay offered her his helmet and she took it, slid it over her head and mounted behind him. Before I had a moment to ponder which bike I would be riding on, Stitch took a hold of my elbow and steered me toward his bike. I didn't fight it, in fact I was glad he had chosen me. Handing me his helmet he mounted the bike, extending his hand to pull me on. Sitting behind him I clutched his chest, resting the side of my face against his back. I felt the bike jerk beneath me as we raced forward with the others twisting in and out of traffic. I watched the brightly illuminated buildings pass us in a blur and when Stitch took a sudden turn I glanced down, noticing he had broken free from the group and was taking his own path back to the school.
No comments:
Post a Comment