Title: Crystal Moments
Author: Matriaya
Summary: Plain old Molly Michaels had never been the object of much attention. When she befriends Nick Landon, the president's son who has spent a fair amount of his life in the spotlight, she learns what it means to be special in someone's eyes.
Dedication: this goes out to my friend Kellie Meelhause, and to the writer Meg Cabot who gave me the idea. (I still need a note Kellie!)
Disclaimer: I own them! I own the characters! Bwahahahahahaha! (not the White House though… but my birthday is coming up… ^_^)
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The first time I went to the White House, it was a perfectly enchanting experience. After the 14th time however, it got rather predictable. Which is why, on the rainy Tuesday when my APUSH class decided to tour the landmark, I was pretty much stuck in daydream mode. Lazily my eyes wandered through the tour group. There were a few tourists, as there always was, who oohed and ahhed over everything they saw. Mostly, it was the kids from my class, most of whom whispered amongst themselves as a properly dressed tour guide rambled on about paintings hanging on the walls.
My gaze turned stony when it fell on Annie and her friends. They were, to coin an overused high school phrase, preppies. Skinny as a rail with jeans that fit seamlessly and little American Eagle t-shirts that exposed just the right amount of tanned midriff, Annie Dendersen and her group of 5 friends looked like something straight out of a magazine add. Every single hair on her head was in perfect place, and her blonde highlights matched those of her friends down to the T. What really got to me though, was the conceiler-induced flawlessness of her skin, and the dark ring of mascara and eyeliner that circled her eyes. It wasn't quite enough to make her look like a raccoon, but it was certainly more than what looked natural.
Me, I went for the more natural look. When I say natural, I really meant it. No make or anything. In fact, I abhor the stuff! Unlike the sticks huddled in a group a few feet in front of me, I had a curvier figure. Curvy in all the wrong places! I wasn't fat really, and if I wore jeans and baggy sweaters I could generally cover up the fact that I needed to trim my tummy and thighs, but I definitely wouldn't be caught dead in those micro-mini shirts that the Annie Brigade insisted on flaunting. My hair wasn't my any means perfectly straight and highlighted either. It was brown. Plain old mousy brown. None of this silky brunette stuff either. I always put it up in a ponytail or braids directly after washing it, otherwise it would poof out like that god-awful carrot top guy from those ATT commercials.
Today, might I state with some matter of satisfaction, it actually looked half way decent! (I slept in braids last night, then put up the crimped hair in a clippy on top of my head.) My plain old jeans and a baggy Ireland sweatshirt that I stole from my twin sister suit me just fine clothes wise. Still, staring at the Annie Brigade all day long made me wish with checked envy that I could in fact fit inside one of those horrible orange t-shirts.
"Molly, do we have to write a report on this?" Michael Charles hissed in my general direction. He sat next to me in class, and was notorious for paying no attention whatsoever. Not wishing to draw the attention of our occupationally stern teacher, Mr. Sabados, I just nodded and went back to pretending to listen.
Today, however, was not my lucky day.
"Mr. Charles? Miss Michaels? Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the group?" Mr. Sabados asked in that annoying shrill tone of his. It echoed through the marble hallways with a harshness that cut through me.
"No Mr. Sabados," we both mumbled out. After staring sternly at us for another moment, he turned his attention back to the tourguide. (Even she was looking at me funny!) Annie, however, felt it appropriate to giggle behind one perfectly manicured hand and stare in my direction.
"…such a loser…" was all I heard of their conversation, but it was enough to make me flush.
Two more hours of blah. This horrible thought dawned on me 10 minutes later. . After the tour was over, we would go back to our stuffy little classroom and discuss in even greater (and more boring) detail the history of the White House. Yippy skippy? Yeah, not so much. With almost an obsessive fever, I scanned the room for something to keep me occupied. My eyes landed on a boy, most likely my age, who was slipping rather stealthily from a room off to the right of where our tour group stood.
He most likely snuck away from the last tour and was hiding out in the men's bathroom until a next one passed by. Evil little genius! I grinned despite myself, and watched with casual interest as he walked over in our direction. Now what could he have been doing in the bathroom of the White House? Throwing cherry bombs down the toilet in a desperate attempt to flood the sewer systems? He looked vaguely familiar, though I didn't know where I'd seen him before. Probably at one of Annie's stupid parties that my friends insisted on dragging me to.
This wild American teenage male moves quietly as it stalks its prey.
In my head I commentaries the whole scene. Most likely he was heading towards Annie. Everyone headed towards Annie. It came with the perfectly shaped breasts and narrow hips.
His opponent, the ominous looking man in black, seems not to notice as he closes in on the tasty morsel of the day.
The tour group came to a sudden stop, and I nearly smacked right into a fluffy-haired old lady who was walking in front of me. Instantly my eyes snapped forward to see if Mr. Sabados had noticed my little clumsy moment. Thankfully, however, he was too wrapped up in yelling at "the drummers" for banging on a $3000 table with their sticks. In my distracted state, I didn't notice the boy coming up beside me until he spoke – which had me jumping nearly a million feet in the air.
"What have I missed?"
Jesus! Ever heard of fair warning?
"Um… the lady said something about architecture about 20 minutes ago. Everything from there has big a blur. Sorry." I whispered back after recovering from my initial shock. The slightest touch of a smile curved at his lips.
My heart fluttered a little bit. This guy was actually really cute! Too bad he was two steps away from latching with Annie and her gerbils.
"I take it this isn't your first time here?" to my great surprise, he continued the whispered conversation.
"I'm up to 14. What about you?" I asked, keeping my eyes forward. The last thing I needed was Sabados calling me out now. If Annie saw me talking to the mysterious cutie, she'd swoop him up in an instant.
"Last count I was at 34." He told me. Well that certainly caught my attention. My steps faltered as I looked over at him in disbelief.
"34? Geez! History buff much?"
He grinned widely, and his eyes (which I by now noticed were green) sparkled in amusement.
"My dad is actually. He used to read about the presidents all the time." He replied. I nodded.
"Yeah, my dad's like that. He knows practically everything there is to know about the civil war."
"Molly! How many times must I tell you?" Mr. Sabados's voice interrupted my conversation. All eyes swung around to stare at me for the second time that day, and a hot flush crept up my cheeks. "We're here for a reason! Please pay attention! There will be a paper due tomorrow!"
Damn. Caught again! Today was definitely not turning out too well…
Right on cue, a flurry of excited whispers erupted from the gerbils.
"Sorry Mr. Sabados." I murmured yet again. Suddenly running away sounded like an excellent idea. In fact, I did a quick scan of exists to see which one would take me out of this place the fastest. If I was incredibly lucky I'd got shot by one of the spiffy-looking characters with the earpieces! That would put me out of my misery fast enough.
"Molly huh?" the boy's voice snapped into my thoughts. "I'm Nick."
I looked up at him with surprise. And here I half expected him to turn and run quickly in the other direction…
I flashed him a pathetic attempt of a dazzling smile. My little charming act was interrupted abruptly by Annie and her friends crowding around Nick, driving a forcible wedge between the two of us.
"Hey there," she grinned, instantly tucking his arm through hers and shuffled him forward towards the head of the line, "I'm Annie and these are my friends Jessica and Mary and Theresa and…"
A glum little cloud settled over me once more. It wasn't fair! He was really cute! And talking to me! ME!! At least the universe was back in balance once more. Annie and the gerbils got everything, and poor little Molly Michaels was all alone with her daydreams.
Fate had other plans for me however…
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hey there! First story on fictionpress.net! my updating may be far and few, I warn you, but I'll try and work as much as possible so um… please r&r! ((gestures to army of lawn gnomes)) or I'll send the pookey pack to make you…. ^__^