Reaching the Stars

The Call

RING! RING! Kay jumped and snapped out her daydream as her phone vibrated violently in her pocket. The sudden noise had left her heart racing, and she was pressing a hand on her chest, to slow it down. RING! RING! “You gettin’ that?” Kay shot her head up towards the voice and immediately bashed her nose with Quintin’s. “Yeow! I think I heard my nose crack!” he protested. “Then don’t lean in so closely next time!” she scolded, smiling, though she had forgotten he was even on the bus in the first place. RING! RING! Sighing, she flipped open the cover of her phone. “Hello?”

“‘Sup, junior black belt, it’s me, it’s me! You do know who I am, right?”

“My weird neighbour who asked for my number? Listen, I’m on the bus and nearly at my stop. Talk to you later.”

With an unconscious smile on her face, she flipped the phone cover and slipped it into her front pocket. A look of horror crossed Quintin’s face.  “Someone asked for your number? And you even gave it to them?! You do realise that there are such things as STALKERS.”

Kay ignored him as she made her way to the exit of the bus, leaving Quintin staring.

“Sorry Quinn, I have somewhere I need to be right now. But I’ll see you for dinner, right?”

“Right.” Quinn seemed to be disappointed, but stepped back onto the bus as the doors closed.

Kay turned and immediately crashed into something hard. Muttering curses, she was about to snap when she heard a familiar voice. “Ouch. You really do love hitting your head, don’t you?”

“Josh!” she exclaimed in a mixed tone of anger and surprise.

“Well now that you’ve been granted with the pleasure of meeting me this fine day, would you like to go somewhere? Together?”

“Woah, you’re straight forward.”

“Well…” he hummed. “I need a princess pretty enough to dilute my blinding hotness.”

Kay raised an eyebrow “Meaning me?  A girl with paint all over her shirt with some purple-eyed hot guy?”

“Hah, you think I’m hot ~ ”

*SLAP*

“Hey, what was that for?!”

“Underestimating my many talents, again? I could be some long lost princess, like that girl from ‘Tangled’.”

“Okay, princess, but you’re gonna have to put away your junior black belt if you want to dance with me at the ball tomorrow night!”

Kay shook her head in disbelief. “Maybe you’re gonna have to put away your arrogance for once if you wanna dance with this princess.”

“No way! This princess has an attitude! Le gasp.”

Kay couldn’t help grinning. “Now I’m the one with the attitude!?”

“Why yes, princess. See ya tomorrow night? I’ll meet you outside your house.”

“Fine. You better be there on time. I’m not waiting in the snow.”

“Oh, ye of such little faith.”

“Kay?” A knock sounded on the door, echoing into the narrow hallway that led to a single bed, in a single room. Kay got up in a dreamlike state, even though it was only afternoon, and opened the door. “Hi.” she yawned. “What’s up-” Kay’s legs crumpled and she suddenly fell in a quite un-feminine way while Quintin burst out laughing. “Wha-what was that?! Bwahaha-! It looked like you were having some kind of really bad spasm attack!”

“My right leg weirdly twitched!” she argued, but then immediately regretted it as Quinn laughed even harder. He was trembling so hard he started to curl up, so Kay dragged him by his limp arms towards her small living room. With one last heave, she threw him onto the couch, karate style, where he lay giggling as gasping for breath. Which was the most logical solution, of course. “What?” Kay snapped. Quintin quickly cleared his throat and sat up, still wearing a huge grin on his face.

“I was wondering if you wanted to go to the dance-thingy tomorrow night. With me. Y-you know, as friends, of course.” he said, trying to hide his blush.

“Oh, um…” Kay put her hands behind her back and looked at the ground. “I’m, uh, busy tomorrow, so, um, I don’t think I can really go…”

“You’re a terrible liar,” Quintin thought to himself, his smile gone. “How long do you think I’ve known you? You always look at the ground when you lie.”

“Oh! Actually, Quinn…” His eyes lit up.

“Do you think I can borrow your sister’s dress? You know, the crimson red one with the flowy hem? Can- I mean, may I borrow it tomorrow?”

“I thought you said you weren’t going.”

“No I didn’t. I-I mean, I did. Wait, I mean I’m not going! My friend said she wanted to borrow it from me for her date tomorrow since she saw her wear it and thought it’s really pretty and all. That’s all.” Kay beamed, proud with her fool-proof lie. Or so she thought.

“Sure.” he muttered. He knew his sister had never actually worn the dress out before, so there’s no way her friends could have seen it. That also meant that Kay was going to the ball. The only question was, who was she going with? There’s no WAY it could be Mr. Stalker on the phone the other day…

“Thanks so much! You got my spare keys, right? Leave it on the couch tomorrow, please ~” she sang cheerfully.

“Yep. One last thing...the dress IS for your friend right?”

Kay bit her tongue. “Yes.”