Craving for Romance

Chapter 4 (Part 2)

Part two

New Friends

“Hey, you alone? Can we join you?”

I turned around and saw two girls standing in front of me, both of them wearing a warm smile.

The girl continued, “You know, we were sitting in the front row at first but we realized it was not a very good place for chat and sleep,” she stopped and winked at me, “So we were wondering if we could sit here beside you.”

I was starring at them, my mind completely blank and not responding anything. I was thinking carefully (not knowing what), and finally, I managed to speak,

“Yes, of course. I was bored alone. It’s great that you guys want to make friends with me.”

 “Thanks,” the girl thanked me and pulled a chair beside mine out, sliding her butt and placing it on the chair. The other girl sat beside her.

“Ok, I’m Stella Price, and this is my newest friend, Claire Morgan. We just met in class today.”

“Oh, I see,” I said, smiling a bit, “My name is Marilynn Steve, by the way.”

“Marilynn? Sweet name!” Stella exclaimed, “I like both of your names, actually. They both sound so adorable. I guess we gonna have a special bond between us three,” she foretold our relationship excitedly. 

Claire smiled at me and I smiled back. By her smile, I recognized that Claire was a beautiful girl. She wasn’t wearing any make-up on her face rather than some gloss on her lips. She wasn’t wearing any particular things that would make her obvious either. She was in a dress printed in pale-colored flowers and gathered her long black hair in a high pony tail, almost like showing off her long elegant neck. She looked as simple and as beautiful as a cherry petal.

And Stella, well, she was quite different from Claire. She seemed to have an out-going personality, which makes her very, very active and flexible. She was wearing tight short and a T-shirt printed in Hannah Montana’s picture. She had also colorfully painted her face. She looked kinda like a party girl, who would spend her Friday nights rolling, dancing and swimming in alcohol. I somehow had a bad feeling about her but I felt low to judge someone on the first meeting so I quitted.

“As this is our first meeting,” Stella spoke again, “I think we should share about our family, likes and dislikes, relationships,” she bit her lips and curiously checked both of us expressions when she said the word ‘relationships’, “You know, such kind of myself stuffs. I believe this will help us get closer. What you say, Claire?” she turned to Statue Claire and asked.

“Yeah, it’s ok for me,” she shrugged her shoulders and answered.

“And Marilynn?”

“It’s fine for me, too.”

“Ok, so let’s start with me. I was born in a small town, and came to this big city to study. My mom said there are more chances to go to a great university here. I moved in last year and I’m now staying with my aunt’s family. My parents ran a boutique in our town. It’s pretty famous,”

She parroted her biography really fast. The rest of the conversation was mostly about her. Claire and I didn’t really have a chance to tell about ourselves. Claire didn’t seem to be very willing to talk about herself either. The only things I knew about her was she came from a different town, too and she now stays with a couple of friends who moved here together with her. Oh, one thing, she is a fan of Spanish songs.

I was starting to get bored of this one-sided conversation. But my boredom didn’t last when Stella changed the topic on fashion, music and cosmetics. These definitely are my taste. My attention immediately hopped back into her talky.

“Tell ya what, I prefer CoverGirl to SmashBox. It makes me feel more confident on my looks. I like their lipsticks the best. My lips feel something special whenever I use it,” she said, shaping her lips into a kiss.

I laughed, “Yeah, I love CoverGirl, too, though I’ve never tried SmashBox before.”

“You should,” she insisted, “then, you’ll know the difference. And, hey, who is your favorite singer? Wait, wait, I’ll guess, Cody?”

I shook my head.

“Grayson?”

I shook my head again.

“One direction?”

I literally shook my head for the third time. Her red-colored lips were curved into an O,

“OMG, Marilynn, how can you possibly cut those cute boys off your favorite list? I can’t believe it!”

“I didn’t mean I don’t like them. They are just not my favorite.”

“Then who-is-your-favorite?” she said every word carefully, frowning her eyebrows.

“Hmm…  Jessise.J, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Pink, Fun… I don’t know. It’s like a lot, almost the whole music community. But I love Alicia Keys the most. She is amazing. She plays piano since young age and she writes many great songs and…... She’s an inspiration for me. She is my idol.”

“Your idol? So, you want to be an artist?!” she said, excitedly.

“Yeah, it’s kinda like my dream.”

“Your dream?! Oh my god, really, Marilynn? It’s so-big.”

“What is big?”

“Your dream, Marilynn. You have a big dream. Do you ever imagine how it would be felt like on the Broadway stage, performing your very own song?”

Her words sweetened my ears. Yes, of course, I’ve imagined. I, Marilynn Steve, on Broadway stage, performing my own song would be like climbing to heaven, and every step would make me feel something that could not be unidentified but still very amazing. Every single note I play and every single word I sing would flow in the air into everybody’s ears. My heart would be connected and my feelings would be shared with every single person from every corner of the theater. That could not even be described because I know that in reality, it would feel more special.

“Yes, I guess I’ve,” I said, feeling wonderful.

She smirked, looking at my expression, “You really are into your dream, aren’t you?”

“I think I am,” I answered, thoughtfully.

“So since you shared a secret, I’m gonna tell you mine, too. Guess what? I also dreamed to be a singer.”

My eyes widened immediately as she spoke out her dream with a daring face.

“You what?”

“Haha, don’t give that look, sugar. You should be happy to find someone with the same ambition as yours. Who knows? We could be mates,” she rubbed my thigh gently as she spoke,

“Promise me, when we finally met in Broadway, we’re gonna make a duet together.”

She handed me her tiny finger. I was in silent, so she impatiently took my finger and hooked it with hers,

“Yep, I promise,” I said determinedly though I knew somewhere in my mind that, nothing of that could happen.

Stella went silent for a moment. I guess she is finding another topic to gossip on. Right then, the school bell rang.

“Yay, it’s the break. Let’s move to the canteen, girls,” Stella said, jumping with joy.