Chapter
1
Heidi’s POV
“Thank God for air conditioning,” I heard a voice yell from the
living room area. I nodded in response
as I threw an outfit that was in my hands moments earlier to the floor in
disgust. I heard a chuckle from behind
me and I spun around to see my fiancée, Darrin, standing in the doorway.
“What do you want?” I mumbled while taking one more outfit from
the closet. I held it up and looked in
the mirror, finally having decided what to wear.
“Nothing, just wanted to see if you were almost ready. But I guess you aren’t,” he replied with a
grin.
“No, I guess not. For some
reason I feel really uneasy and nervous about tonight.”
“Why though? You have been to my parents’ house tons of times.”
“Yeah, but I guess this time is somewhat different, if you know
what I mean. How do you think they will
react when we tell them the news?” I questioned.
“We will just have to go there and see. Now hurry up,” Darrin teased lightly. “I will meet you at the car in about ten
minutes, okay?” Without waiting for an
answer, he backed out of the room and shut the door behind him. I sighed and quickly changed into the outfit
I would be wearing for the night and quickly styled my hair. I was out the door and met Darrin at the car
in about fifteen minutes, and as we drove to his parent’s house, I hoped they
would take the news we were about to tell them well.
***
It was just an ordinary day, a Thursday afternoon in the
middle of May. The bell had just rang,
signaling the end of the school day, and everyone headed out to their buses,
cars, or to their various after-school activities. Surprisingly, I was one of the car
people. My parents hadn’t been able to
get me a car when I turned sixteen over two months ago, but just a few weeks
ago, I had woken up one morning, and parked in the driveway was an almost brand
new, silver VW Beetle. My dream
car. I had thought I was hallucinating
at first, but when I blinked and rubbed my eyes, it was still there. They had been saving money for it behind my
back for months, all the while telling me there was no way I was getting a car
anytime soon so I might as well deal with it.
So now, here I was, heading to the parking lot to drive home in my
new car. I climbed into the driver’s
seat and waited for one of my best friends, Chloe Alter, to come out. Chloe lived down the street from me and had
been one of my good friends since we were ten.
She didn’t have a car yet and would be stuck taking the bus, so of
course I offered to take her to and from school every day, since riding the
school bus isn’t exactly the most thrilling experience in the world.
As I waited for Chloe, I watched the other kids climb into their
cars and whip out of the parking lot as they always did. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught site
of Michael Randall, the guy I had loved since I was seven. Yeah, I know, it sounds pathetic, but it’s
true. What’s sad is, I didn’t think he
knew I loved him so much, and I didn’t have the nerve to tell him. And now that we were sophomores in high
school, we barely saw each other, since we didn’t have any classes, not even
lunch, together. So there was pretty
much no hope of us ever getting together, and I had accepted that. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t watch him
and daydream about him.
And that’s what I did. I
watched as he walked over to his shiny red pick-up truck. It seems like at least half the guys at my
school own bright red pick-up trucks. I
think it’s cause red is one of our school colors. So the jocks all drive red trucks and put
their jersey numbers and some form of our school mascot on the license
plates.
As Michael pulled out of the parking lot, I saw Chloe finally
coming out of the school building.
“Hey, Julie,” she greeted, climbing into the passenger seat beside
me.
“Hey, Chloe,” I replied, starting up the engine.
As I pulled away from school that day, things were still perfectly
normal seeming. Little did I know that
that would be the last normal day I would have in a long time.
***
I walked into the dressing room, wiping the sweat off my body with a
towel. My friend Katie walked next to me.
"Don't you think the rehearsal went great today?" she asked me.
I looked at her and rolled my eyes. The rehearsal had gone the
exact opposite then great. One of the chorus people had tripped and
sprained her ankle, Katie kept messing up in her only scene, we messed up in
the biggest number of the show,
and to top it off, I gave the leading male a black eye.
"Yeah, I think it went terrific," I said sarcastically.
"Katie, this is hard work. But I love it so much! Jack
said that tickets went on sale today!" I giggled happily in
excitement.
"Darling, this is Broadway for you. And this is how it feels to be
in a new show," Katie told me.
The new show Katie was talking about was called, "Earth's End."
It was about what people basically go through when the world is ending,
and different situations you have in your typical musical. It had already
been advertised, so tickets were going on sale earlier then usual, since the
ticket sellers knew this would be a sell out.
My parents were extremely mad when I said I was leaving school after I turned
eighteen to head for Broadway. The last thing I heard them say to me was,
"You'll never make it!" And my younger sister just stood at the
doorway watching me leave. She was two years my junior, but still, we
were really close. I felt so guilty leaving her, especially days before
her sixteenth birthday.
As I left the dressing room, I bumped into the last person I wanted to bump
into. John DeAlba, the lead male I gave a black eye too.
"Well, hello, Sammy," he sneered.
"Hi, John," I forced out. I quickened my pace a little before
the door so I could get out sooner, but he had other plans. He jumped in
front of the doorway, halting my retreat.
"You owe me for this black eye," John whispered. I looked at
him with a disgusted glare on my face.
"What?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"You," he said softly into my ear. While John was utterly
attractive, with a nice build, dark skin, dark hair, and piercing gray eyes, he
was a straight up snob.
"John, if you do anything else right now, I will have to hurt you," I
said coldly. John froze his hand, which was about to touch the small of
my back.
"Sammy, you know you want me, and I want you. Later, I will have
you," he said with a tone of evil in his voice, then left. I stood
there, looking at the spot where he used to stand wishing something would come
down from the sky and kill him. Little did I know that my wish would come
true.
***