Chapter 1

Chapter 1 of Hey, Beautiful.

Pieces of crumpled paper littered the bench around me making it look like a nor’easter had flown in from Antarctica.

 

It seemed that I wasn’t going to be able to jot one useful thing down today. Too many thoughts cluttered my mind, none of which helping to conjure a single idea. You’d think that a cluttered brain would help think of a story of some sort, but no. I was stuck here buried in a pile of failed attempts to create something new.

I sighed, grabbing some wads of paper from beside me and setting them into the trashcan next to the bench. I probably should have aimed for the trashcan the first time, but when I was aggravated I tended to crumble the sheets into balls and slam them beside me. I could never understand why I did this, but I did.

 

Glowering, I began to recite what had happened just twenty minutes before.

 

“For the millionth time, I will not, nor will I ever, join the kissing booth for the carnival!”

 

Mira glared at me, placing her hands on her delicate hips. For weeks she’d been nagging me to sign up with her so that she wouldn’t be alone. No matter how many times I refused, she kept coming back. She knew that I planned to have my first kiss in front of an altar, but still, she begged. “Why not?” she whined.

 

“Um, does the ‘I’m going to have my first kiss when I get married’ thing not ring a bell to you?” I asked, shifting my bag on my shoulder.

 

We walked down the path, away from the building our seminar had been held in. Silence was mandatory in the seminars, but when Mira and I both had one together, silence was the last thing on our minds. We spoke in hushed voices through the whole thing, barely taking in what the speaker was saying. The most we noticed about the professional standing on stage was his beard and thick eyebrows. “Damn, he needs to pluck those things!” Mira had whispered.

 

“And does the, ‘That’s never gonna happen’ thing not ring a bell?” Mira rolled her eyes. “You’re in college, Cass. Everyone gets kissed in college!”

 

I rolled my eyes. “I’m still not joining the kissing booth.”

 

Mira groaned, bringing a hand through her dark hair. It was pulled into a messy bun today, though it didn’t look messy. She managed to pull the look off very well with her tank top, shorts, and flip flops. “You’re so stubborn!”

 

“And proud,” I said, smiling brightly at her.

 

We continued down the path silently for a few moments. My eyes flicked around the grounds, my gaze devouring everything in sight. A group of boys were playing football, chuckling and guffawing as they tackled each other into the grass. What kind of story idea could I get from men playing football? I struggled to think of something, but failed.

 

“Drama!” Mira called out suddenly, flicking her wrist to the right.

 

My gaze turned to where Mira had been pointing. I bit my lip, narrowing my eyes as I saw a short, blond girl chasing after a boy. It wasn’t just any boy. It was the boy that everyone seemed to be talking about these days. Whether it was, “OMG he’s so hot!” or “Boo-hooey he brokey my hearty!” There was always something going on with this guy.

 

“Sean is breakin’ another heart I see.” Mira giggled giddily. “Gosh I love drama!”

 

I scowled as the girl finally gave up, turning in the other direction, weeping uncontrollably. It sickened me to my core that Sean could just dump people like that . . . and so casually too. I’d seen him laugh and say,

“Honey, you’re not cute enough for me. Go date someone ugly.”

 

Talk about rude!

 

“I give it an hour tops before he has another girl.” Mira nodded to herself. “Yeah. An hour.”

I shrugged, rolling my eyes. I watched as Sean strutted toward the dormitories, bringing a hand dramatically through his dark hair. Girls would actually kill to watch him do that. It apparently made his muscles flex sexily. Yeah, okay.

 

“I wonder what he’s going to do when he runs out of girls,” Mira mused, a smile planted on her face.

 

“He’s probably going to go gay,” I said, fixing my bag’s strap. “I bet the gay guys would really appreciate that.”

 

Mira snorted a laugh. “Yeah, and I bet girls are going to be flocking to the kissing booth to volunteer. 

 

Everyone knows that Sean goes there to check out the good kissers.”

 

“Another reason not to join.”

 

Mira scowled, shaking her head. “I don’t know why I even bother with you anymore.”

 

I shrugged. “I don’t really know why either. I mean, I’ve only told you a gazillion of times.”

 

Mira was about to snap some snarky reply to me, but Rianne, one of the heads of the carnival, came rushing over to us, her huge blue eyes wide and her blond hair windswept. She was wearing a similar outfit as Mira except her tank top was striped instead of plain and her flip-flops were black instead of blue. “Mira!” she squeaked out. “There’s a big problem at the kissing booth. We need you, pronto.”

 

Mira sent me a look that said, “This isn’t over,” and then hurried off with Rianne. I watched as they sped-walked, glad that I didn’t have to deal with the stress of creating a carnival. The carnival wasn’t the school board’s idea. The students did everything: they bought everything, set everything up. I was surprised that the carnival ended up as big as it did. Maybe it was because they made you pay for everything.

 

I shook my head, retreating toward the benches in the park. Maybe I could finally get some words on paper there. Setting my bag beside me, I pulled out my notebook and stared off into the sky, willing for useful thoughts to come to me.

I leaned back, pretty proud of my work. Sure, I wouldn’t be allowed to pass this in for a grade, but at least I’d written something. I stood up, hoisting my bag over my shoulder, deciding that that would be enough for today. The report wasn’t due until Friday, and it was Tuesday. I would be able to finish it by then. Hopefully.

 

My notebook in my hand, I turned to leave . . .

 

. . . .and collided with someone.

 

My notebook was ripped from my grasp as I toppled to the ground, a small scream escaping my lips. My hands connected with gravel, pain instantly shooting up my arm. I seethed, grinding my teeth together. After blinking hard, I sat up, picking small rocks off of my palm. “What the�"?”

 

I looked up, searching for whatever force had sent me flying. My eyes locked onto a boy bent over, his hood covering his head. I bit my lip to keep from yelling at him as he picked up my notebook. I gasped as my eyes locked on the coffee stains covering the beautiful pages. All of my stories within there were now destroyed.

There were no other copies, and I probably wasn’t going to be able to read it again.

 

I glared, knowing that it was this boy’s fault that coffee was now dripping off of my notebook. I glanced at the ground, finding a fallen Dunkin Donuts cup. I wanted to kick it, but I didn’t. Instead, I stood up, wiping my hands on my pants.

 

“Excuse me,” I said sternly, holding my hand out. “That’s mine.”

 

The boy held up his pointer finger, his eyes trained on the paper. All I could of him see was his dark hair falling into his face and his muscular build showing through his gray sweatshirt. I crossed my arms over my chest, annoyed. Who said that he could come over, make me fall, cover my precious with coffee, and then read my stuff? I sure didn’t.

 

“Um, can I have my notebook back?” I snapped.

 

I could have just snatched the notebook away from him, but I didn’t want to chance it getting ripped as well. If this guy could find it legible, then maybe I could copy it into a different notebook. But, in order to do that, I’d need my writing back!

 

“Seriously�"”

 

The boy looked up and I stifled a gasp. Sean James smirked, his electric blue eyes blazing. He held up my notebook and slapped it into my still awaiting hand. Then he bent down, scooping his now empty Styrofoam cup from the ground and chucking it into the trashcan.

 

“You didn’t read this, did you?” I demanded stupidly, holding up my notebook for emphasis.

 

Sean’s smirk grew, shoving his hands into his pockets. “You mean about me dumping a blond and going gay when I run out of girls?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“No, I didn’t.”

 

I glared, flicking some stray strands of my brunette hair behind my head. He was being a smart-a*s, and I didn’t appreciate it. “Good,” I sniffed, turning to leave. “And by the way, next time you bang into someone, apologize.”

 

“Hey, what’s your name?” Sean called, ignoring my comment, sauntering after me. I shook my head, refusing to answer. “What? I’m not allowed to know?”

 

“Exactly!” I exclaimed over my shoulder.

 

My hate for Sean only grew then. We hadn’t been talking for two minutes and he was already pissing me off. Though, he didn’t really have to speak with me to piss me off. I got angry just by looking at him. People like him deserved to die a painful death: alone with a ton of cats and young children trespassing onto their lawn no matter how many times they threatened them with their cane.

 

“Fine, I’ll just ask Mira. I’m sure that she’ll agree to tell me as long as I agree to convince you to join the kissing booth.”

 

I spun around, stifling another gasp when I whacked Sean’s chest. How he had been that close to me without me noticing, I will never know. It set me on edge to be honest. “Holy crap!” I hissed, stepping backwards. “Did anyone ever teach you about personal space?”

 

Sean closed the distance between us again, grinning seductively. I rolled my eyes, spinning around and scurrying off again. “And you don’t even know what Mira looks like!” I called, tempted to flip him off. “So, good luck with that.”

 

“I’ll just look for the girl dressed like Rianne. Because, you know, I dated Rianne once.”

 

I froze, my foot an inch from the ground. I could have accused him of lying, but I remembered Mira complaining that Rianne wouldn’t stop crying because Sean dumped her over a text. Such a cold-hearted way to go. I turned slowly, placing my hands on my hips. “You’re insufferable, you know that?” I hissed, shaking my head. “My name’s Cassidy. Now go away!”

 

Sean grinned. “I’ll go when I want to.”

 

I scoffed, shaking my notebook angrily. “You’re so lucky that this wasn’t completely destroyed. Otherwise, I’d have to kill you.”

 

I stalked off, mentally flipping him off as I did. He was even more infuriating in person. Cocky, stuck-up. I assigned theme songs for him in my head. Everybody Loves Me by OneRepublic came to mind, along with I’m Sexy and I Know It. Both annoying songs about narcissistic people. That was the main reason that I hated those songs so much. They reminded me of the people I despised.

 

I was about to step onto the grass, but I was spun around. Before I could even register what was going on, my lips were pressed against someone else’s. My eyes widened, my hands flying up in shock. My notebook fell to the ground and my bag’s strap dug into my shoulder. What the hell?

 

I pulled away, slapping a hand to my mouth. Sean stood there, smirking at me. I bit my lip, feeling as though I was going to cry. My dream, my one single dream that meant as much to me as writing did, had just been plunged down the toilet because of this arrogant a*****e! I was about ready to slap him, but Sean turned to leave.

 

“You should join the kissing booth,” he said simply.

 

And then he was gone, disappearing down the pathway.

Reviews

[MrsHardin12]

I found the beginning to be a little too detailed and off to a slow start. It wasn't until she bumped into Sean that I was really interested. I agree with the other comment that it is a little odd she wanted to wait that long for her first kiss; but maybe this is a more religious story? At the end I was hooked and would continue reading had a picked this up in a store =)

[Daydreamer54]

Awesome start! I find cass to be a bit odd because of how she wanted her first kiss, but i like her of it anyway. just recommend identing your pragraphs. other than that, i loved it and would like to read the 2nd chapter! ^^