Crush

dangerous-fox

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Brown Eyes

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'Cruel Intentions' or 'Shrek'? That is the question… and an incredibly tough question at that. Looking between the two videos in my hand, I wonder which one I feel like watching. I could choose one of my all time favourites, 'Cruel Intentions', and drool over Ryan Phillipe… or I could kick back and relax with 'Shrek'. Since it is the Summer Holidays, and holidays are meant for relaxing, I tuck 'Shrek' under my arm and regretfully put the other video back on the shelf. I should've brought more money with me to the video store. I guess it doesn't matter too much… after all, I do have 'Cruel Intentions' on DVD at home. The only problem is that, I'm not at home. I'm staying at our family beach house for the next two weeks or so.

Reaching for the notes I had tucked into the pocket of my jeans, I pull out a crumpled $10 note. I wonder if I have enough change to buy an ice cream? Lord knows I need one. Who knew it could get so damn hot? I would go to the beach, but I've been swimming every day since we got here… I need a break. Wow, I never thought that I could actually get sick of the beach. I, Caroline Fiona Kameron, have absolutely loved the beach since I was old enough to walk! Even younger, come to think of it… then again, swimming five days in a row from dawn to dusk can have its draw backs. My hair is getting all stringy for one thing, and my skin turns out like a dried prune at the end of the day...

Walking to the cashier, I glance idly at the other videos on the shelves as I walk past. Hm, maybe I should get a horror movie? My parents can't stand scary movies, so it's usually just my older sister, Priscilla, and I who watch it. Pausing to pick up a movie titled 'Ghost Ship', I flip it over so that I can read the back.

"Ah, I wouldn't borrow that if I were you," a friendly male voice warns me. Turning slightly, I spot a tall, dark and handsome guy standing just beside me. Okay, so maybe I'm being a bit cliché, but not by much. I'm of average height for a healthy sixteen year old girl, but the boy next to me is a good half a head taller… he has dark brown - nearly black - hair and gorgeous brown eyes. He also has this roguish look about him, and a down right mischievous smile.

As I turn, I watch him give me a quick once over with his liquid brown eyes. I know I may not be the most gorgeous girl on earth, but I'm pretty decent looking. I have an athletic figure from playing soccer and netball and am of average height (maybe the tiniest bit on the short side). My hair is very loosely waved and light brown with natural highlights all over the place. It's up to my shoulders and is generally tied up in a very messy ponytail. My eyes aren't anything too special, but they're a hazel-green colour that I'm told tend to sparkle whenever I'm up to no good… (Personally, I have no idea whether this is true or not, since I tend not to stand around staring into the mirror just to see if my eyes really do sparkle when I think of some far out plan…) Finally, I have very faint freckles around the nose, and a cute smile. Not model material, I'll grant you that, but enough to get me attention from the guys' back home.

Brown Eyes' seems happy to stick around and chat with me, anyhow.

"What's wrong with it?" I ask, eyebrow arch as I glance back at the video I'm holding. I'm a naturally friendly, chatty person… that I guess can be a good and bad thing. Good, 'cause I can make friends easily… bad, 'cause I tend to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. My friends sometimes complain that they can't shut me up. If I were them and they were me, I'd probably get a bit annoyed at the way I… I mean, they… or is it I? Now I'm just confused… I've also forgotten what I was about to say, or is it think?

"Too much to name," Brown Eyes replies back, nodding towards to the video. Shrugging, I put it back on the shelf and pull out another one. I show it to him with a grin.

"Now what do you think of this one?"

"Ah, 'The Ring' is a must-see," he assures me. Spotting 'Shrek' still tucked under one arm, he pulls it out and looks over the cover. Offering me a smile, he takes 'The Ring' out of my hands and replaces it with the jolly green ogre and his donkey. "But I still reckon that nothing beats 'Shrek'"

Well now… maybe I should invite him back to my place to watch it? Although, if everything turns out my way, we wouldn't be doing a whole lot of watching… now, there's a thought…

"Anyway, I'm supposed to be picking up some things from the shops for my parents. Just thought I'd make a detour to grab a few vids," he said, holding up a couple of action movies, "I'll see you around"

Damn, so much for my plan. I give Brown Eyes a quick wave as he pays for his videos and leaves the store. Now browsing through the confectionery and sweets section, I realise that I've got a stupid grin on my face and that my heart is beating hard. Ah, don't you just love it when you meet a drop dead gorgeous guy? He didn't look all that much older than I am. Maybe seventeen? Eighteen at the very most. I tug absently on my dried out hair. Damn it, stupid salt water… why didn't I wash my hair this morning before heading out?

Paying for the video and an ice cream, I leave the video store and begin the short walk back to our beach house. That's when I realise that I never did find out his name. I guess it's not like I'm every going see him again…

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How so very wrong I was… glancing at the brown-eyed hottie beside me, I can't believe my luck at running into him again.

"So, care for a dance?" Brown Eyes asks me, taking my hand and leading me to the middle of the club floor before I even have time to form an answer. I flash him a wicked grin and make no protest. Dancing is way up there with 'Cruel Intentions'. What can I say? I love it. I suck at classical and ballet though… no co-ordination whatsoever when I'm on my tiptoes. However, I can do Jazz, Hip-Hop and Funk.

Maybe I should back up a bit and explain what I'm doing here with Brown Eyes? Yeah, that'd probably be a good idea… it's the weekend now. Well, Friday night anyway. But Friday Night always counts as the weekend for me. My nineteen-year-old sister, Priscilla, and her friends wanted to go out clubbing to this new nightspot called 'Gecko'. (What the hell sort of name is that for a club?!). For my sixteenth birthday, Prill had given me a fake ID. Mum and Dad would crack it if they knew though… I have no idea how Prill got it, and I don't think I really need to know. The point is that it looks pretty damn authentic. I just haven't really put it to good use yet. The two or three times I have though, it has always worked. One of my sister's friend's sister, Tasha, is just a couple months older than me and also has a fake ID. We had immediately hit it off together when we met last summer, and we decided that we wanted to tag along with the older girls (and guys). Call it temporary insanity, but it seemed like a good idea. It was either that or sit at home with the parents and play board games.

Telling Mum and Dad we were going out to the movies, Prill agreed to take us to 'Gecko'. However, if we got caught out, she would deny having anything to do with us. Fair enough, I suppose. As luck would have it… we were caught out, or very nearly to. Let me rephrase that, my ID passed the test… but Tasha's, I had to admit, was a little less than convincing. I should've gotten her to show me her ID before we decided to try and sneak in.

Anyway, the Bouncer was beginning to lose patience with us. "Listen, if you two girls aren't out of my sight in five seconds, I'm going to call security"

I thought the Bouncers were security? And why the hell was I getting thrown out? He had believed that I was eighteen years old. At least, I was sure that he had. I grabbed Tasha's hand to try and lead her out of the line, but she wouldn't budge.

"But Mr. Bouncer," Tasha wheedled, fluttering her eyelashes innocently, "don't you believe me when I say that I'm sixt- uh, eighteen?"

"No," Mr. Bouncer answered flatly.

"Come on, Tash," I hiss to the other girl, "we should go before he calls our parents. Think of how much shit we'd be in then"

Tasha pouts at me, flipping her long dark brown hair over one shoulder. "Oh, come on, Caz," she said, "why don't you tell the nice man over there that I'm eighteen already?"

Let me just make one thing clear, I absolutely hate being called Caz. However, I decide to overlook that little slip on her behalf. "Tasha…" I say, realising that the Bouncer is beginning to loose patience with us, "I'm sure the nice man over there is really sweet and all, but I really think that we should be going. Don't you?"

"No, not really"

"Look, I told you girls once already that you should get going out of here," the Bouncer grumbled, reaching for his walkie-talkie looking thing.

"It's okay, Bill," a new voice joined in. A very familiar voice.

Sure enough, I turned my head to see Brown Eyes standing by the Bouncer with one arm draped friendly over his shoulders. I raised my eyebrows at him, but he simply winked and mouthed trust me. I've got to say that Brown Eyes looked pretty damn good. Good enough to eat. If I were hungry enough, I'd probably eat him. Hm, that sounds kinda disturbing, doesn't it? I take that back. I probably wouldn't eat him… after all, I can think of a whole lot of other things I'd rather be doing instead.

"These girls are friends of mine," Brown Eyes said, flashing a grin at the bemused Bouncer.

"Is that so?" Bill asked.

"Yep, I'm sure that if you checked the list hard enough, you'll find their names written down somewhere among the VIP list"

Brown Eyes lied so smoothly that I almost believed him myself. The Bouncer, however, looked more amused than convinced. This was obviously not the first time that Brown Eyes has tried to sneak some girls into the club. Ah… if Brown Eyes is allowed in the club, that must mean that he's at least eighteen. Damn, I was hoping for seventeen. But I suppose eighteen will have to do. After all, beggars can't be chooses.

Returning his gaze back to where Tasha and I stood waiting, the Bouncer sighed. After carefully studying our faces, he obviously gathered that we were no big threat. He assumed a resigned expression and waved us in carelessly.

"Fine. But this is the last time, Milano! No more sneaking in your girlfriends, remember… it's my ass on the line if they're caught out," Bill grumbled a warning after us. Brown Eyes flashed him one of his gorgeous smiles and gave him a smart salute.

"Whatever you say big guy," he laughed, before grabbing my hand and leading further inside the club. Tasha quickly took hold of my other hand to keep from getting separated in the dancing, throbbing crowd. As soon as we were far away from the entrance, Tasha let go of my hand to fix her long straightened hair. I watched as she looked Brown Eyes up and down. Slowly. She licked her lips, obviously liking what she saw. I had been around Tasha enough during the summer to know what she looked like when she was about to start flirting. Turning her charm on full blast, she sent a sly grin over at Brown Eyes and she glanced at him from under thick, full lashes. Her green eyes sparkled outrageously.

Now, Tasha is definitely model material. In fact, I think she has modeled part-time before… just for some pocket money. It's not fair. Some girls got to model new clothes, fashion, jewelry, meet other gorgeous guys (and get paid for it), while others had to wear their hair in icky nets and labour over oil and grease, making fries and hamburgers. I belong to neither of those categories. I'm no model, but I'm no fast food chick either. Actually, I coach a junior soccer team on the weekends. The pay isn't all that great, but its fun. It also keeps me fit.

"Thanks so much for back there," Tasha said, absently (or maybe not so absently) flicking her hair back over one shoulder. The corners of her pert red lips curled up into a smile, as she kept her emerald eyes on his. Brown Eyes grinned back, either oblivious or immune to her charms. I hoped it were the latter. After all, I did spot him first! Suddenly I wished that I had dressed up more. In my dark denim jeans and green halter, I felt underdressed compared to Tasha's sexy black number.

"No problem," he told her, taking his hand out of mine and offering it to her, "Justin Milano"

Tasha accepted it, "Natasha Corsi… call me Tasha, all my friends do"

"What friends?" I mumbled, before I could stop myself. Tasha and I are just so use to bagging each other that it comes out naturally. Brown Eyes, or I suppose its Justin now, raised his eyebrow amused as Tasha shoved me playfully.

I stick my tongue out at her, before realising how childish that must've looked. Shrugging my shoulders slightly, I shot a natural smile at Justin. "Caroline Kameron"

Nothing too interesting happened after that. Tasha continued her flirting, and Justin remained immune (I hope). Not too long after the introductions, a new, moderately cute stranger came and started chatting Tasha up. Realising that she was getting nowhere with Justin, she was happy to flirt back with him. That was when Justin noticed my wandering attention and asked me to dance.

RnB music with a heavy beat blares out over the speaker. Just before coming to the club, I had taken a shower and washed my hair. It's no longer dry and stringy, but should be silky, smooth and it should also smell like kiwi fruit. Mm, an added bonus! Like usual, I have it tied up into a messy ponytail.

Though he tries, Justin is not the best dancer out there. But it is kinda amusing to watch. I mean, he does try… I think he asked me to dance, just to keep me from getting bored. That's really sweet of him. Though, I can think of a whole lot more things we could be doing to keep our boredom in check.

As the beat starts to pick up, I realise that he looks a little unsure of what he's doing. Maybe I should go help him out? Flashing him another wicked grin, (which I'm sure he caught), I move up closer and throw my arms around his neck. After all, I'm the type of girl who moves on impulse. If I could see my eyes now, I'm sure they'd be sparkling like mad.

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«--.dangerous-fox.-{ - please review

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Okay, there you have it. A whole new story. I really want to know what you guys think of this, so please, please read and REVIEW! Even if you have some constructive criticism, I'm open to suggestions. I've learnt the hard way that characters need to be strong right from the beginning, otherwise it's hard to start developing them later on. This was actually one big chapter (combined with the next one), but it was so long that I had to cut it in half. As of yet, I don't really have any idea where it's leading. But it'll come to me eventually! ((If you have time, feel free to read Loved Forever while I update this)).

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[Title may change]