It was freezing on the night Devyn and I met. The only reason I even went into the theater was because I was freezing. I remember pulling the side door open in one fast, swift motion, feeling warmth fill my cheeks. I stepped inside and then quickly closed the door behind me, pressing it into place. All around me, kids in costumes or practicing lines quietly ran around, frantically trying to stay quiet while getting ready. "No, Abby! You have to be here NOW!" a boy hollered into his phone. All the theater kids turned and shushed him at the same time and he rolled his eyes and flipped his phone shut. I remember watching him and wondering how I had never noticed him before. He was extremely good-looking, maybe even better-looking than my boyfriend-of-the-moment Bradley Stephens. "Can anybody here sing?" he asked frantically. All the theater kids rolled their eyes at him, (in unison, I swear.) He sighed, "Anyone here know the lyrics to 'Two is Better Than One?'"
"By Taylor Swift?" I asked. The boy caught eyes with me, "And Boys Like Girls," he agreed. "Yea. I know that."
"Really?! Oh, that's great! Can you sing?"
"Um..." I started to say no, but Mary-Ann Jameson, also known as Raggedy Anne, interrupted me, saying, "Are you kidding? Justin is a fabulous singer!"
"Perfect!" the boy looked flushed with relief and excitement, "Will you sing with me?"
It was a simple, five word question, and yet it led to so much more than I knew I was agreeing to. Of course, I will never regret agreeing to it, seeing as Devyn has been my best friend for over ten years now, but I kind of wish we had met differently. Maybe then, he would have never fallen for me in the first place. But we didn't meet differently. We met onstage, singing a love song, and it was all downhill from there.
"Hey, Justin, you were great out there!"
"Thanks, you too," I said, smiling warmly and fluttering my eyelashes slightly. I might have had a boyfriend, but it wasn't as if we were really serious, and this guy was a serious catch. "So...um...do, uh, do you have a boyfriend?" I smiled at his nervous stuttering and that he was asking me this particular question, which was always a good sign...except in this particular situation, in which it was incredibly unfortunate for my young self that he happened to ask it. "Um...well, yea, actually. Bradley."
"Brad. Brad Stephens?"
"Uh, yea, that's the one."
"The quarterback?" I paused when he asked that, and then slowly replied, "Is there another Bradley Stephens?" He just laughed, "No, I guess not, it's just kind of funny."
"What is?"
"You dating him."
"How is that funny?" I asked, now slightly on my guard. "Well, he's the quarterback in the football team, and you're his gorgeous girlfriend with the fabulous singing voice. Sounds like something I've heard before." I blushed at this comment and then, embarrassed, waved goodbye and headed toward the doorway, where I had seen my older brother leading his girlfriend out the large doorway. "WAIT!" he hollered. "I didn't get your name," he said, smiling slightly. "Justin," I said, still blushing. His eyebrows raised, "Oh. Well then, that changes things." Now my eyebrows raised, "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Well, you're not cliche anymore." I opened my mouth to reply, but I didn't know what to say, and he had already waved and headed off in the opposite direction anyway. I didn't even know what his name was.
© 2010
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