Title:
Getting Over Sting
Author: Vaudeville
Rating: T; due to language
Summary: I had my first crush when I was six years old. His name was Gordon Sumner and he was fifty-one years older than me. Eleven years later and I wish things were still that simple. One-Shot.


My first crush was when I was six years old.

His name was Gordon Sumner and to me he was the most perfect thing I'd ever seen. I was only six years old and I didn't quite grasp what it was, but I was sure that I was utterly and irrevocably in love with him. Although all I seemed to do was daydream about him, it seemed the world was working against us. For one, he lived in England, while I resided in British Columbia, Canada. For another, at that time he was fifty-one years older than me. It also didn't help that he was the lead singer and the bass player of a band called The Police. Yes, I was in love with Sting.

My mother and father put off my obsession as puppy love. In their opinion, Sting made good music, so why shouldn't I have a massive crush on him? They figured that it would go away as soon as I realized the impossibility of a relationship with him. Well, they were right. My love for the music stayed but the love for the man slowly diminished as I discovered boys that were closer to my own age and actually attainable. But, loving Sting had been so simple and now, as I'm watching my boyfriend gyrating with some other girl, I wish that that simplicity was still around.

Jeff had invited me to Dane's party Tuesday afternoon. I'd declined. My cousin was in town and I hadn't seen her for a couple months. Of course, I was going to spend time with her. He was a bit ticked off that I'd turned him down but he got over it. Or I thought he had. I guess I was wrong. Why else would he be grinding with Helen Valley? Was he just trying to get back at me for rejecting his invitation? We'd been dating for eight months, one party should matter that much. But, I guess to him it did.

"Monty?"

I tore my eyes away from my cheating boyfriend. He'd just initiated a very heavy make-out session with Helen. Dane, Jeff's best friend and host of the party, was standing behind me, a beer in his hand. He had a look that I'd never seen before on his face. It wasn't a look of shock, it was one of pity. He'd known. He'd known and he'd never said a thing.

"How long?" I asked.

"I thought you weren't coming," was his reply.

"How fucking long?" I was angry now. The more he tried to deflect the question, the worse I felt.

He looked over my shoulder at the promiscuously dancing couple. He looked worried.

"Dane."

"A couple months."

I stared at him. "And you knew?"

He didn't speak. All he did was nod.

I turned back to see the boy I'd given my virginity to practically having sex with another girl.

"Things would've been so much easier if I'd never gotten over Sting," I muttered to myself, my eyes filling with water.

Dane moved in front my vision. "What?"

"Nothing." I wiped my eyes, then glared at my ex-boyfriend's best friend. "Fuck you, Dane."

And with that I stormed from his gigantic house.

oo

"Monty, talk to me."

Delete.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

Delete.

"She meant nothing. I-"

Delete.

Jeff had been calling me all day. I'd been screening my calls and he had no other choice but to leave messages. He'd even had the audacity to call my home phone. My brother wasn't happy, to put it lightly.

The familiar chirp of my phone sounded again. I checked caller ID. It was an unknown number. I figured it was safe to answer; my phone recognized Jeff's.

"Hello?"

"Monty?"

"Yeah."

"It's Dane."

"What do you want?" I was angry. Dane and I hadn't been the best of friends but I'd dated Jeff for eight months and Dane had always been around. I liked to think that were friends but friends would usually tell someone that their boyfriend was cheating on them.

"I just wanted to see how you were. Jeff told me that you're not answering his calls." He actually sounded concerned.

"Would he have thought any different?" I twirled a piece of hair around my finger. "Are you calling for him?"

"No. I'm calling for you. You weren't at work today." Of course, he would know that I always worked Wednesdays and Sundays.

I took this as the opportune moment to let loose the hacking cough I was holding back. "Yeah, walking home was a not a smart idea."

There was a moment of silence before he answered. "You're sick?"

"What? Did you think I was home, pining over him?" I scoffed.

Silence once again. That's exactly what he thought.

"Look, Dane, I appreciate you calling but I'm fine. It was just a silly high school relationship. It wasn't going to last." I wish I actually though that.

"Monty-"

"I have to go." And I hung up on him.

oo

I stirred my coffee waiting for it to cool down. School was starting in two days and my best friend Lucy and I were out for our traditional before school girl's day.

"He's a dick," Lucy said.

"I know, you've been saying it all along." I rolled my eyes at her.

"I have been saying it all along."

I put my hand up to halt her never-ending tirade against that "dirty cheating bastard" or so she had christened Jeff. It had been a little over a week, since I'd actually talked to Jeff and broke it off. He was upset but I was sure that he'd get over it. He had Helen's shoulder to cry on. I, on the other hand, had had some time to think things through. I'd very much liked the idea of Jeff. The cute, popular jock that, most of the time, was a sweetheart to me. But there were never actually any "feelings" with him. Sure, there'd been the physical attraction, which made me believe that I actually did love him but that was not the case. Today was the day I was officially over Jeff.

"Senior year, baby," Lucy squealed. "It's gonna be a blasty-blast."

I chuckled at the Dane Cook quote and took a sip of my now lukewarm coffee.

The sound of Akon floated through the air and I shuddered. Lucy pulled her phone out of her purse and answered. I drained my cup while she talked to her older sister, Cassidy.

"Monty."

I suddenly found myself looking at Dane. Was he stalking me or something?

"What?" I snapped at him.

His eyes shifted to Lucy and then back to me. Great, was he going to get me to set him up with her? This was exactly what I needed.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you."

Then, Lucy, best friend that she is, totally abandoned me. "I have to go do… something for Cassidy. Call me later, Mont." And with that she was gone.

Dane quickly stole her seat. "How are you?" The actual concern in his voice made me drop my hostility. But I was still a little P.O'd that he'd kept it from me that my boyfriend was cheating.

"I'm fine. Really."

He looked like he didn't believe me.

"Why are you following me around?" I asked, narrowing my brown eyes.

"I'm not. I'm just worried about you." He reached out and grasped my hand. His hand dwarfed my own. I looked at our entwined hands and felt very uncomfortable. I quickly pulled back. He showed no sign that it affected him.

"Stop worrying." The harshness was back in my voice. "I'm really all right."

He looked like he didn't know what to say. I took that time to study him. He really was very good-looking; even better-looking than Jeff. His hair was such a dark brown that I looked black. It was long so it flipped into his intensely green eyes. His facial structure was of that of a model. He worked out, that I knew. I had seen his body before. He was no slouch. And to top it off, he really was a sweetheart.

"What did you say about Sting that night?" he said, trying to make conversation.

"I used to have a crush on Sting when I was younger. It would've been so much easier to marry him. Then, I would be happy. And rich."

He gave a small smile but was otherwise silent. It was awkward. I didn't know what to say, so I absent-mindedly spun my cup in circles on the table.

"I'm sorry," he said, breaking the silence and tearing his eyes away from mine.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "I didn't want to hurt you."

My anger came back full force. "You should've told me."

I left Dane sitting there that day.

oo

It was way too early to be up. I was still on a summer mind set but here I was walking the halls of my school at seven AM. Luckily, Lucy had picked me up so didn't have to wake up early enough to catch the bus. I'd got my locker number and class schedule from my homeroom and was now heading to my first class, which was World History.

The class was half full when I got there. I chose a seat in the middle by my friend Alison. She grinned as I took my seat.

"Hey there," she said cheerfully. Her smile was infectious and I found myself smiling also. "How was your summer?"

"As good as any," I replied. "Yours?"

"Fantastic." And then she launched into a very long story the guy she meet when she and her family traveled to Europe. I was too busy listening to her humorous story that I didn't see when Jeff and Dane walked into the class. Dane sat one seat back from me and Jeff sat next to him. I laughed as Ali finished her story and pulled my notebook from my bag, getting ready for when the bell rang to signal the beginning of my first ever class as a senior.

I turned to scan the class to see who was in it but my eyes fell automatically on my ex-boyfriend and his best friend. I narrowed my eyes when Jeff looked at me and turned to face the front.

Luckily, I was saved from the awkward moment by the teacher entering the room. I smiled seeing that it was Mr. Farceur. He was old, eccentric, and one of the best teachers in the school. I hate to sound like a tool but he made learning fun. He was by far my favourite teacher.

"Welcome class, today we'll just be doing a sort of get to know you activity."

I chuckled. We'd all been going to school for six plus years and we'd all had Mr. Farceur at least once in our high school career. We didn't really need to get to know each other.

"Everyone get into partners and then you'll interview each other. When you're done interviewing them, I'll put you into groups of four and you'll present your partner to the other two."

I quickly locked eyes with Alison and she smiled. Of course, we'd be partners. Mr. Farceur had prepared a list of questions and quickly passed them out. Alison and I quickly ran through the list and jotted down the answers. I knew a lot about her already but you always learn new things. Like the fact that her childhood hero was Aladdin.

"Okay, let's get you into groups." M Farceur started placing all the partners into groups of four. My heart stopped when I heard him place Alison and I with Jeff and Dane. What were the chances? I growled deeply in my throat. Sure, I'd gotten over him but he'd cheated on me and that just didn't go down well with me. And Dane had taken to bugging me wherever I went.

I quickly introduced Alison to the two boys and sat silently as Jeff introduced Dane. Then, it was Alison's turn to introduce me. I noticed that she was not looking at Jeff with her usual happy expression. She was glaring at him. Or course it had gotten around that we'd broken up. Jeff Allen was talked about. All the time.

"This is Monty Kalavera and she deserves so much better than some snotty baseball player that thinks he can have anything with boobs."

Dane snorted with laughter and Jeff looked at him angrily.

"Butt out, bitch," he said to Alison.

She gave him the finger and Jeff opened his mouth to retort but Dane quickly intervened.

"This is Jeff Allen and he's a douchebag. He knows that he doesn't deserve Monty Kalavera."

Jeff gave him a firm punch on the arm and turned his seat away from us. I gave Dane a small smile and turned my attention to Mr. Farceur, who had begun introducing himself.

When the bell rang, Jeff huffed out of the room, not bothering to wait for his traitorous best friend. Alison laughed wickedly before her usual smile returned to her face. Dane bumped me gently before continuing to his way to his next class.

My good mood did not last long. My next class was French and it was taught by my least favourite teacher, Madame Cameau. I also earned myself a detention at lunch. I was so glad that this was my last year of high school.

oo

The bell rang and finally the first torturous day of school was over. I took a liking to the fact that it would be my last first day of high school. Ever.

Lucy was giving me a ride home and she'd told me to meet her in the courtyard so I could help her carry some things to her car. First day and she was already "borrowing" things from the school. Lucy had this thing where she had to take thing from the school; Books, pencils, staplers, chairs. It was completely pointless seeing as she would always return them at the end of the year but she always had quite the collection by then.

I stood under the shade of a tree and leaned against the cool brick wall. It was cold this morning and I'd opted for a hoodie and some jeans, which had been a mistake. The clouds had quickly disappeared, the sun was shining brightly, and I found myself cursing our local weather station.

Lucy always took her sweet time so I began to people watch. Big mistake. I no longer had feelings for him but seeing him with his arm around Helen, whispering in her ear was a big shot to my ego. Jeff had felt the need to cheat when I was with him. I watched as they slowly strolled to her car. She got in and Jeff leaned down to kiss her goodbye. Then, my slow torture was interrupted.

"Monty," Dane called.

I was sick of him saying my name. He jogged over to where I stood, his backpack hanging off one shoulder. I found my eyes drifting back to where Jeff was closing Helen's door for her. Dane followed my gaze and I saw his eyes narrow.

"You didn't need him, Monty," Dane said, sternly.

"I know; I'm over him. He was just comfortable for me. I've realized that I never actually had any feelings for him." I shocked myself with how easily that had come out.

Dane's mouth quirked up. "Really?"

"What are you grinning about?" I was a little bit annoyed that he was making light of my revelation.

"I'm just happy," he said, taking a step closer to me.

I took a step back and ran into the rough brick wall. "Why?"

"Monty…" he paused.

"Why, Dane?" My spine returned and I took a step away from the wall.

His voice was hoarse. "Monty, I love you."

Whatever I'd expected him to say, this was not it. I didn't know what to say. Was he joking? I gave a nervous giggle, which was completely out of character. I never giggled. He must've noticed.

"I'm not playing around, Monty. I've had a crush on you for years. And then you started going out with Jeff and I was so angry. But then I realized it was the perfect opportunity to get to know you." He paused again. "Monty, I am totally and utterly in love with you."

Once again, I was speechless.

"Say something."

"You think you love me?"

"There's no think about it. I know I love you. You're nothing short of my everything."

"That's so corny," I said, breaking eye contact with him.

"See, I can't help it. You make me want to say corny things." He was smiling widely.

I brought my brown eyes back up to meet his green. He took a step closer to me and brushed a strand of blonde hair away from my face. His warm hand lingered on my steadily turning red cheek.

"Monty, he was stupid for letting you go." He was moving closed and closer. His lips were mere centimeters from mine.

I opened my mouth to say something but my voice had abandoned me. All I could get out was his name. "Dane."

"I'm glad you didn't marry Sting," he said. I could feel his breath on my lips.

"Why?" I whispered.

"If you had I wouldn't have been able to do this."

And with that he closed the distance between us and his lips landed on mine.

I guess something good came with getting over Sting.

Fin.