Short Stories

Love At First Sting

Characters: Joe Elliot, Steve Clark, Phil Collen

Lucy-Anne was in love with Joe for a long time but she didn't have the guts to tell him her feelings. She was Joe's friend for a long time and she fell in love with him when she first saw him. Today, they were staking with few of their other friends.

"I'm so happy to go skating today, maybe you will have the chance to speak with Joe all alone." Said Isabella, Joe and Lucy-Anne's friend. Lucy-Anne blushed and at the same time, Joe walked in the room where both of his friends were.

"You're talking about what?" Asked Joe with a singing tone.

"Nothing!" Quickly replied Lucy-Anne not facing Joe.

"Okay. But I'll find out someday." Said Joe pointing at his friends. The girls laughed and turned to face Joe.

"Any way, you girls are ready to go? We don't want to be late and make the guys and Laura wait!" Said Joe as the girls put their skates in a bag. The three friends walked out of the house then near Joe's car. They all stepped in the car and Joe drove to the mall where the ice ring was. When they walked in the building, the rest of their gang, Steve, Phil and Laura were waiting for them.

"Finally! We've been waiting for you for like hours!" complained Phil.

"Sorry mate, we got stuck in traffic." Replied Joe.

"It's okay. Let's go skate now that we're all here!" Said Steve and they walked near the ice ring to pay. After that, they put on their skates and went on the ice. Lucy-Anne noticed that Joe was closer to Laura that usual, it made her feel jealous. She started to skate all alone hoping that Joe will come beside her and ask her what was wrong but he never came, instead of Joe, Isabella was the one who came beside her.

" What's wrong Lucy? Why are you alone?" She asked her friend.

"I'm fine. It's just that I want to talk with Joe but he seems more interest in talking with Laura. I simply stayed alone because I wanted him to come and talk to me but I guess that it's not working." Answered Lucy-Anne as they passed beside the rest of the gang without stopping. Phil, who was surprised that the girls didn't stop, pulled Lucy-Anne by the arm to make her stop.

"You know we're here, right?" Asked Phil as the girls stopped beside him. Isabella whispered to Lucy-Anne that they'll finish their conversation later. The gang started to speak all together but Lucy-Anne didn't really listen to the conversation. Her eyes were locked on Joe, she was wondering if he really considered her as a friend. She sighed and decided to go skating to clean her mind. She was sure that her friends didn't even notice that she was gone. The only thing that she wanted to do was to cry, she missed Joe's company and she didn't know why he was distant from her. Isabella knew that she had to go and see her friend but she also wanted to be with Phil. Steve, on the other side, noticed that Lucy-Anne was skating all by herself, he skated close to her and started to talk with her.

"Come on Lucy, it's a fun activity, you shouldn't be all alone." Said Steve with a small smile. She smiled a little and they started to talk together. Few minutes later, Steve excused himself and skated close to Joe and Laura.

"I know I shouldn't be alone Steve. But the guy I love doesn't seem to realise that I want him to come and skate with me." Whispered Lucy-Anne to herself. she stopped skating again and sat on the bench that was near the ice ring. Few seconds later, all of her friends skated off the ice ring. At the beginning, she thought that they were coming to ask her what was going on but when she walked closer to them, Steve replied that they couldn't skate anymore and they wanted to go shopping. Her smile faded and they took off their skates. After putting the skates in Joe's car, they went back in the mall and a weird girl jumped in Joe's arms while Lucy-Anne was ordering ice cream. When the girl left, they all went to sit around a table but Isabella pulled Lucy-Anne behind the rest of the gang.

"When you were ordering, Joe told us that it was his girlfriend. I'm sorry about that." Said Isabella tapping Lucy-Anne's shoulder.

"I'll drown my sorrow in ice cream." Replied Lucy-Anne with a sad tone of voice. Isabella smiled a little trying to sympathize with Lucy-Anne but she ignored her and went to sit with the rest of her gang followed by Isabella. Why didn't Joe tell me that he had a girlfriend? Now I'm heartbroken, thought Lucy-Anne. She took her phone and put on one earphone. She clicked on Heartbreak Station of Cinderella and laid back on her seat listening to the sad song while eating her ice cream.

"Lucy-Anne?" Asked Laura. All of her friends looked at her as she looked up from her ice cream.

"What? she asked and when she saw Joe, her expression changed. Why haven't you told me that you had a girlfriend?" She wanted to add I wouldn't have fell for you if I would have knew. Joe looked at Lucy-Anne speechless and when she saw that Joe didn't answer, she sighed shaking her head and asked Isabella to get up so she could pass. Isabella did as she was told and Lucy-Anne got up before she walked away pulling the other earphone on. She knew that her gang was probably looking at her like she was crazy but she didn't care she couldn't take it anymore. She started to walk all around the mall, she didn't know if it was a good idea to go back so she stayed all by herself. She bought herself ice tea and walked in a shop were they sold vinyl.  When Joe saw Lucy-Anne walking away, he didn't know how to react. He thought about running to go ask her what was going on but at the same time he saw his girlfriend coming.

"Isa, do you know why Lucy ran away like that?" Asked Steve as Joe's girlfriend hugged him like there was nobody around. Isabelle shrugged her shoulders even if in the back if her mind she knew why her friend did this. Joe's girlfriend walked away followed by her friends and the five friends decided to go shopping. Isabella and Phil went together and the others went together. Joe didn't really think about the fact that Lucy-Anne might be in love with him, he was too concentrated into having fun to think about how he hurt one of his best friend. Lucy-Anne, on her side, couldn't stop thinking about Joe, she kept saying to herself that she was stupid because she felt in love with someone that was already taken. The six friends were having fun, except Lucy-Anne, walking around the mall, they didn't even noticed that it was time to eat. Joe, Laura and Steve met Lucy-Anne at a book store where she was looking for her friends.

"Where the hell have you guys been? Laura has to go soon and she didn't even eat." Said Lucy-Anne as she walked close to Steve, Joe and Laura.

"Calm down L-A. I could ask you the same question. Why did you run away from us earlier?" Asked Joe as they started to walk to go at the restaurant  area of the mall. Lucy-Anne wanted to tell Joe her answer but he simply walked way to fast for her plus she was in a bad mood which made her walk even slower.

"Where's Lucy?" Asked Phil as he saw the three friends coming near the table.

"Following behind." Replied Joe. Isabella looked behind Joe and saw her best friend walking behind Joe real slowly. Lucy-Anne sat down beside Joe at the table and kept her earphone on. she looked pissed off but nobody really noticed it, they were too occupied to eat candies to look for a friend that wasn't in the mood.

"Laura, let's go order." Said Isabella which took Lucy-Anne out of her thoughts. The girls both got up and walked away leaving Lucy-Anne alone with the three guys. She took off her earphone and the guys offered her some candies. When the girls came back, it was time for the boys and Lucy-Anne to go get lunch. The gang was all sat around the table and were laughing about everything. Lucy-Anne looked at Joe but he wasn't paying any attention to her. When Laura left, Lucy-Anne was back in her thoughts, she realised that Joe was really love at first sting even if he didn't know it and will probably never know.