Of Scissors And Scooby Doo

Chapter 18

"I'm so sorry, I'm so clumsy sometimes!"

"It's fine, don't worry. It's just coffee."

"Yeah, but... now there's a stain and it's probably all wet and uncomfortable and-"

"It's not that bad. And believe it or not, we have a washing machine at home. It's gonna show that stain who's boss."

I stopped trying to rub the coffee out of the denim and looked up into light blue eyes. Into really pretty light blue eyes. "I'm still really sorry."

Those pretty eyes twinkled brightly and lit up as the owner of them smiled at me. "Don't be. My leg might just have been burned but that's a pain I have to take." I returned his smile before I collected the soaked tissues I used to clean up the mess, along with the now empty plastic cup, and stood up to toss them into the trash can located in the far corner of the room. "But if you're really sorry there might be something you could do to make the pain a little bit better."

I turned back toward the boy sitting in front of the keyboard, who now had a cheeky grin on his face. I chuckled and walked back to my seat next to him. "Which would be?"

"Go out with me."

I smiled weakly. "Noel-"

"Oh, please. Just one tiny date. If you don't like it you're allowed to run away whenever you please."

My eyes dropped from his hopeful face into my lap. I met Noel a couple of weeks ago, when Andre and I were working on a new song he needed for his songwriting class. He asked me to sing it for him so that he could play it in front of the class. I agreed and so I had sat in the little recording booth in the very same room I was sitting in now, when Noel came strolling in. He was a really, really handsome guy; dark hair, blue eyes and a smile to die for. As if he wasn't already perfect enough, he was also one of the nicest boys I've ever met, funny and just plain wonderful. He was a good friend of Andre's, played the drums and also attended Hollywood Arts. I wondered how I had never noticed him before.

Anyway, we clicked right away. Actually, he was the reason I was feeling better lately. The atmosphere between me and Jade was still tense. Of course there were moments where it seemed like everything could go back to normal, like that one time when we skipped class and she taught me how to play 'You Are My Sunshine' again. But those moments were just that. Moments. The next day, everything was back to its usual awkward way.

But thankfully, it started to ease up, slowly but steadily. I still couldn't forget how I felt for her, of course I couldn't. But thanks to Noel... everything got easier to deal with. He took my mind off of Jade when I needed it. He made me laugh when I really didn't feel like it. I was so happy I had met him.

The downside however... was that he really wanted to take me out on a date.

"But... Noel, I can't."

"Why is that?" He rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. "You always say no and I don't even know why. What is it, Tori?" I couldn't bring myself to go out with him. It was so weird and... I didn't have feelings for him. Wasn't that a bad thing to do, go out with someone, getting their hopes up only to reject them the day after the date? But it wasn't as if I could just go right out and tell him. That would be kind of rude. "Am I not meeting your expectations?"

He smiled, and ugh, he looked so cute but I just didn't feel anything! "No, you're... you're great. It's just-"

"I'm not handsome enough."

"No," I laughed, shaking my head. "That's not it. I just don't think... it would be a good idea."

"But you ruined my jeans," he said and pointed to his right leg where the blue denim had a huge dark stain on it. I smiled and rolled my eyes. "Who knows, maybe it will never wash out. This was my favorite pair."