Story B) page 1: First Meeting

He’s right there.  All I would have to do is say something.  Anything.  Okay, not anything because knowing me I would start with something like did you know that 90% of males masturbate?  Which is true, but totally not a good segue into, my name is Ivy and I will gladly bear your children.  Actually it isn’t a good segue into anything for that matter.  I don’t even know why I was thinking about that.  I bet he doesn’t even have to masturbate.  Look at him.  Oh hell, I need to stop looking at him, and stop thinking about him.  And definitely come up with a better introduction.

“Ivy! Where have you been?  I thought we were meeting in front of the cafeteria.”

Finally!  Something to distract me from the absurd thoughts running through my brain.  Then again seeing my less-then-pleased roommate stomping towards me was not that great of a transition.  She was taller then me, more fit then me too.  She likes sports.  I on the other hand do not.  Her long dark hair looked all tousled and perfect.  And the fact it was almost a hundred degrees outside didn’t seem to effect her or her body at all.  She looked good, even with the angry scowl she was sporting.

“Don’t be angry.  I had to…” Oh great, what was I doing before staring at boy-whose-name-I-do-not-yet-know? 

“Had to what?” she says, folding her hands over her chest. 

“Had to go over my Calc test with Professor Higgins.  He marked two of my answers wrong that were right.” I say in a rush, the words tumbling out as soon as I remembered them.

“Well you could have texted me.”

“My phone died.  I am sorry Jillian.”  Not to mention I kind of forgot.

“Don’t worry about it.  We can eat in the café down stairs.” She states, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the stairs and Mr. dreamy, until she stops suddenly and I run right into her.

“Michael?” she asks.

And then he turns around.

“Jillian.  Hey.” And just like I imagined, his voice was amazing, kind of husky but still soft enough to sound totally hot.

“It’s so weird seeing you outside the theater.” Jillian continues. 

“We should fix that.” He replies, stepping closer to us.  And I would be completely stoked about all this new information, aka his name, and that he is now exactly 2 feet away from me, if not for A) I seem to be invisible and B) Jillian knows him.  Which may not seem like a problem now, but just wait.  It will be.  It always is.

“How rude of me.  Michael this is my roommate Ivy.  Ivy this is Michael Fell.  My partner in crime from my Acting class.”

She emphasized acting class.  Meaning I was supposed to remember something.  And that something was that she had already mentioned this Michael Fell to me.   He was her partner in the big scene that was due next month.  And he was amazing and nice and she already has a crush on him.  A big crush.

Thus, I am not allowed to have a crush on him.  She has dibbed him.  Staked her claim as it were.  She is my best friend and her happiness is more important then some guy I have been semi-stalking for a week.  I'll be over him tomorrow.

“Nice to meet you.” He says, holding out his hand.  His hair was a light brown that he kept short.  And he had brown eyes that reminded me of hot chocolate.  His smile was beautiful, and his skin was soft as I shook his hand.

“Likewise.” I reply, not saying what I was really thinking.  That I am so screwed.

Story A) page 1: First Sighting

“He’s looking over here again.”

I groaned internally at Stacey’s words.  Why did she always have to attract attention?  Couldn’t I have found a best friend that looked less like a Greek goddess and more like a normal person?  And that was when she is dressed in over-sized hand-me-downs from her sister.  Don’t get me started when she is actually all made-up.

“Did you hear me?” she asks, shaking me slightly.

“Of course I heard you.  I don’t know why you’re surprised.  You look in the mirror every morning don’t you?  For 17 years now.  Nothing has changed.”

I wanted to lay my head on the table, but the tray that held what hardly passed as anything actually edible was in my way.  It was a metaphor for my life.  Not that I mean to sound condescending, I actually love Stacey.  More then I love myself in fact, but that does not prevent emotions such as envy, depression, and annoyance.  No, those I have frequently and today was no exception.  So I settled on resting my head in my palm, dreaming of some island in the tropics and a pina colada.

“He’s not looking at me.  He’s looking at you.” She says happily.

I sit up straight and peer around the cafeteria.  There in the food line stood the new guy, and she was right.  He was staring right at me. 

Why was he looking at me?  I glanced at Stacey who was growing increasingly excited.  Why was she so damn optimistic?  He hadn’t even talked to me and I could already see the wheels turning in her head. 

She’s been trying to set me up with guys the moment we got out of that awkward puberty phase, even though technically Stacey never had one of those.  Nope, only me.  And even if the guys weren’t totally ga-ga for her, which mind you they always are, I absolutely always srefuse.  Because come on, the only thing a guy wants is sex, sex, sex, and wait… nope, more sex.  With a side of video games and a beer.  Call me stereotypical all you want, but it’s the truth.  So this guy was going to be no exception, the only difference is he noticed me before he noticed her.  Because once guys notice her, I am invisible. 

“Stop staring at him, we don’t want him to think we actually want him over here.” I state, turning my attention back to the untouched mound of goo on my tray.

“Too late.” She giggles. 

“He is not coming over her.”

“He is actually.  Be nice.” She whispers, tucking a strand of her golden blonde hair behind her ear.  I rolled my eyes at her and decided to take deep long breaths.  In and out, that was the key.  Maybe he’d walk right on by.  Maybe he wasn’t looking at me at all.  That was the more logical explanation.

“May I sit here?”

His voice was angelic.  And I knew angelic.  It surprised me so much that the normal retorts I keep in my arsenal such as bite me, go stick your head in a toilet somewhere, why are you talking to us, and my personal favorite do us all a favor and stop breathing, completely escaped me.  Luckily Stacey could still think and actually answer.

“Why yes you may!  I am Stacey and this is,”

“Ariel.” He finishes.

How did he know my name?  I look up at him; by this time he was standing in front of us on the other side of the square table.  His blue eyes stood out in stark contrast to his black hair and tan skin.  Boy was he pretty.  And nothing good could come from anything that looked that pretty.