The Thirteenth

~Chapter Two~

                                             The Thirteenth

                                              

Chapter Two

Amelia 

"So, I said-estás preciosa and gave her a rose, along with one of my billion dollar smiles. Maria was with a couple of her friends and they started to giggle. But all she did was look at me like I was some kind of alien, who just descended from Mars," Jason continued with a dramatic voice, with a hand on his heart and he looked dreamily up at the ceiling of the cafeteria, "and then she walked away."

 He surely was dramatic. Sometimes I thought that he had the potential to be the actor.  More than sometimes, I must admit. I pushed him to give his name to audition for the spring musical and thankfully, he did.  I mean, he had everything- good looks, the perfect buttery-smooth voice, well-built body. Puberty did him good. And have I mentioned that he sings? Well if not, yes, he does and that too, amazing.

"First of all, if you said you look beautiful in Spanish with that pronunciation, yes, any girl would walk away. Second of all, my question is, why the hell did you say it in Spanish if you're not even good at it? Saying it in English can be equally cool." Alexis stated.

"Well, she is a Latino, so I thought I'll impress her in Spanish." he stabbed his fork in his spaghetti and started to twirl it.

 Just when he was about to put the fork in his mouth, I responded in a noncommittal way, "She's not a Latino. Who even said that?"

"What? She isn't?" he said in a shocked tone with his mouth agape, the spaghetti dropped on the table, "But she is always tanned and surely looks like a Latino. Ugh, damn it Lia. Why didn't you tell me before I made a fool out of myself? Now I've lost the slightest chance I had with her."

"Calm down, my boy", I chuckled "Just be yourself. And I think she had given her name for the spring musical. She will definitely get selected because, duh, she has, every single year. So all that you've got to do now is get selected and impress her with your talent instead of the cliché moves from the movies."

He lit up like a puppy. Wow, he must really like her, I thought to myself. "Well then," he said with determination and rubbed his palms together, "I must practice and I need you guys to help me."

Alexis looked up from her book and said, "Count me out. I already have my sister's wedding coming up and she asks for my help all the time. I thought she wouldn't turn into a bride-zilla and she is proving me wrong, every single day."

Jason gave her a disappointed look and looked at me with hope. His excitement still didn't fade a bit. Ugh, that puppy-dog look! I fell for that every time. He always helped me and guilt overtook me. As I thought about it, I realized that he's never really asked much for my help and this is the first time. How could I say no?

 "Well, I guess it's just you and me then."

"Thank you so much, for this and for forcing me to give my name," he said earnestly, "The audition is next week. And from what I heard, they are doing Phantom Of The Opera this year. Lot of singing, so I guess, you'll be listening to me sing a lot, Lia." He stuffed a forkful of spaghetti in his mouth and looked at his watch. "The bell will ring any second now." And just like he said, the bell rang and we got up, picking up our trays. I had eaten only the yogurt and the apple.