Cupid Shot the Messenger (Not Continuing!)

Step 3: Go Strike!

Step 3: Go Strike!

 “How do I look?” Amber asked me as we approached Bowlplex.  She twirled nervously in her new outfit.  The cute yellow dress bounced flirtatiously around her legs, and her blonde curls lit up her freshly made-up face.

 “Dude, you’re so beautiful!  He’s bound to notice you!” I beamed proudly.  “Are you ready?”

 “No!” Amber bit her lip, smiling nervously.  I laughed.  “Well, we’ve already arranged all of this; you’d better follow through with it!  Look, May and Camille are here!” 

 We watched as our two friends hopped out of their car together.  They always shared lifts, being inseparable, just like Amber and I.  We’d all been close friends since primary school.

 Waving excitedly May and Camille ran towards us, giving us both hugs when they arrived.

 “Oh my gosh! We heard that your ‘thing’ for Robbie is getting serious!  This is so exciting!” May exclaimed.

 Amber blushed, “Yeaa, thanks for getting your brother to get some inside information for us, Camille!”

 “No problem!” Camille winked.  Her brother, Sam, was in the same year as Robbie, and she had convinced him to find out what Amber’s crush was doing this Saturday.  He’d discovered that Robbie was going bowling in town at noon, so, being natural stalkers, we decided to go and catch his attention!

 We all chattered animatedly over Amber’s love life as we entered Bowlplex.

 “There he is!” Camille whispered, pointing towards a large group of boys who were crowded around one lane.  I recognized most of them from school.  Robbie seemed really casual amongst them, punching his friends on the shoulders and laughing about random things, the way that guys always did.

 I paid for two games, and requested the lane beside Robbie’s.  I could feel Amber’s familiar clutch on my arm as we approached the alley.  Robbie didn’t notice us, but I could feel most of the guys had noticed our presence, and being boys and all, and they straightened up, trying harder to boost their own egos by bowling well and impressing us.

 May typed our names onto the screen as Amber, Camille and I sat down, giggling.  I quickly showed Camille the book that I’d devised, and she squealed in delight, insisting on writing down the next entry: Step 6: Go Strike!

 “This is sort of exciting!” Amber whispered in excitement, “He’s right there!” she gestured to where Robbie stood, at the start of the alley, a ball in his hand.  Muscles flexing, he swung his hand forward and released the ball, letting it glide over to the skittles, knocking most of them down with a crash!

 Amber fanned her face with her hand, visibly melting at the sight, and I grinned at her reaction.

 “Amber you’re starting the game!” May exclaimed, reading off of the screen.

 Amber broke out of her daze and her eyes widened as she realized something.

 “I SUCK at bowling!” she snapped.  “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea!”

 “Don’t worry!  You don’t have to be perfect!  You just want him to notice you today”, I assured her.

 Amber nodded, and grabbed a ball from the rack.  She swung it, the way that Robbie had a few seconds ago, but instead of smoothly letting it slide, she dropped it onto the lane.  The ball rolled over a couple of times before settling in the gutter for the rest of its journey.

 Amber’s covered her face with her hands in embarrassment, and we laughed good-humoredly, urging her to try again.

 As Amber went to reach for another ball, Camille, May and I noticed that Robbie was waiting near the rack, watching her.  We couldn’t hear from where we were standing, but as Amber grabbed another bowling ball, Robbie said something to her, making her jump.  Camille, May and I all exchanged wide-eyed expressions.

 Amber nodded crazily to whatever it was that Robbie was saying, smiling like an idiot.  She said something quickly back to him before turning away, a slight bounce in her step as she approached the bowling lane.  I could see Robbie eyes were on her as she released the ball, and the amusement on his face was evident when Amber dropped the ball in the gutter again.

 Thoroughly humiliated, Amber scurried over to where we were sitting. 

 “Camille it’s your turn!” she announced hurriedly, ushering her friend over to the rack and then taking her place on the seat.  I could see the glow on her face from the brief encounter with Robbie.

 “He spoke to you!” May and I exclaimed in unison.

 Amber nodded in excitement.  “He remembered me from last week when we were in the bookshop!  He told me that he’d realized after we left that we went to Mayfield High, like him!  Then he asked me what my name was!”

 I grinned as I saw the excited expression on my best friend’s face, but after a moment her face fell as she remembered:

 “Then I absolutely failed at my go in bowling!  And he was watching!”

 I laughed.  “Don’t worry, dude!  He knows who you are now!  That’s a big step in the Robbie project!”

 Amber smiled reluctantly.  “I can’t believe he actually recognized me!”

 At that moment, Camille came back, cheering about her score.  May, Amber and I looked guiltily at one another when we realized that we hadn’t been paying attention to the game.

 Luckily, Camille didn’t seem to mind.  As I got up to take my turn, she took my seat, and as I selected a ball from the rack, I heard Amber relating the whole encounter excitedly back to her.

 Turning back towards the lane, I focused on the skittles in front of me.  I swung my arm back, then forward, releasing the ball smoothly.  It smashed into the skittles, victoriously knocking all ten down.

A/N:

Hi thank you so much for reading! I've changed this chapter as i've been editing my work so far.

I think this chapter is better, i can feel my story going somewhere now, so THANK YOUU if you're actually reading this! Please comment/vote/fan! xx