IS / WAS

i. was

It isn't everyday that a girl (an admittedly hot one at that) with a guitar slung around her shoulder nearly runs me over with a bike.

It was just today.

I had a strawberry ice cream cone in my right hand (for me) and a pistachio ice cream cone in my left (for Leo). Heading back to the bench that lazy dimwit decided to sit his ass on, I ignored the hot sun beating down on me, instead I took it upon myself to head back as quickly as possible so there'd still be some ice cream left in the cone once I'd get to him.

Here's when the hot guitar-weilding girl on the bike came in.

Turned out I wasn't the only one who was rushing. All I saw was a jumble of bike chain and dark hair and pretty face and the next thing I knew, there she was on the ground beside me. So much for getting to Leo before the ice cream would melt; the swirls of pink and green were already crawling out of the cones and onto the ground, narrowly missing the girl.

She got up first, grabbed the neck of her guitar, and promptly attempted to hide it behind her back. Her other hand went to her hair. "How's my hair?" she asked frantically.

"You play guitar?" I choked out. No way that was possible.

"No," she tried to keep the guitar further from my view. Then realizing it was stupid to think she could hide that guitar like that, she slipped the guitar strap around her shoulder again and ran a hand through her hair, subsequently destroying my ovaries. "Fine. Yeah. I do. Just . . . don't tell anyone."

I couldn't believe I didn't realize that I was nearly run over by Celeste fucking Hale. And she tried to hide her guitar (that I was previously completely unaware of her ownership of) from me. And her hair.

"You play guitar," I repeated to make sure it was true.

"Don't get your panties in a twist." She rolled her eyes, offering her hand.

I grabbed it and let her pull me up so I was standing beside her. My panties are already in a twist no turning back now, I thought to myself.

"Wipe that smirk off your face," Celeste scowled, but the glint in her eyes totally gave her away.

"Sorry."

"Just don't tell anyone about this, okay?" she jerks her head towards the guitar. "It's kind of a secret."

"Some secret," I said. "Way to keep it undercover; running me over and all."

"I was in a hurry."

"So was I," I grunted, gesturing to the melted ice cream.

"You - ?" Celeste's eyes widened in a way that was too cute to be legal. "I -? Oh my god, I'm sorry. I can't believe - "

"It's cool," I chuckled, somehow managing to keep my cool. Celeste Hale did not get flustered.

"No, it's not," she declared. "I'll buy you new ice cream."

"You don't have to."

"No, Jess Levine," and I practically swooned when she said my name, "I want to."

✿

"So," I said in between licks of my double scoop strawberry ice cream cone, "how do you know my name?"

"Are you kidding me?" Celeste replied. It wasn't fair; no one should look like that while eating chocolate ice cream. "We've been classmates for almost four years. How would I not know you? I'd like, be the worst student council president ever."

"I wouldn't really blame you if you didn't know me, though," I murmured. "Nothing really special about me if you think about it."

"Oh, yeah, nothing special, especially that time when everyone ended up crying at that one assembly because your goodbye song to Mrs. Trent was way too sad."

"There's that - "

"Or the fact that you're the only person in our year who can do Physics in French. Or that you're actually still aesthetically pleasing despite dressing like a stereotypical lesbian - which you openly are and that's nothing special."

I tried not to blush. It didn't seem to work. "Says the student council president slash undercover guitarist."

"I swear if you tell anyone . . . " she threatened.

"Don't worry." I saved a drop of ice cream from hitting the ground with my tongue. "Your secret's safe with me."

"Thanks - "

"If."

"Oh god. I knew there was a catch. I might as well hear it."

"If you let me come by your place tomorrow and hear you play."

"Did you just . . . invite yourself to my house? Was that like a date proposal?"

"Up to you."

"That was actually pretty smooth, Jess."

"I get that a lot."

"No you don't."

"Do you want me to keep your stupid secret or what?"

Celeste's free hand went instinctively to the guitar hanging at her side. She groaned. "Okay. My place, then. Four PM. Deal?"

It took nearly all of my willpower to keep from squealing into oblivion; keeping my tongue on my ice cream helped a lot with that. "Done."

"Good." More eye rolling. "I think Leo's calling you now - " the boy took a break from his chat with an old lady feeding squirrels to wave at me " - and since I have a secret that I fully intend on keeping and all, I better head back and grab my bike. Hopefully make a quick getaway. See you tomorrow, right?"

"Yes," I replied a bit too quickly. "Tomorrow. And, uh, thanks for the ice cream."

"The least I could do for almost running you over."

✿

"I have two questions," Leo told me as soon as I sat beside him on the bench. I hoped I wasn't as sweaty as he was. But what can you do on a hot day like this? (I might've been even sweatier; Leo didn't spend fifteen minutes with Celeste Hale.)

"Shoot," I replied.

"Where is my ice cream?"

That was a very wrong question as I took the next three minutes animatedly explaining the bike-ice-cream incident, leaving out the guitar part. Leo would tune in and out of my monologue, sometimes eyeing a pretty girl rollerblading or glaring at a kid with an ice cream cone in his hand. Either way, he nodded whenever I ended a sentence with "yeah?"

"That's why I couldn't get your ice cream," I ended.

"Right," he said slowly. "Second question: was that Celeste Hale as in Celeste Hale the Belgian Hottie Lamottie Student Council President?"

"Yeah," I shrugged as I finished off the last of my waffle cone.

"She bought you ice cream?"

"Yep."

"And when you asked her out - "

"I didn't ask her out!"

"When you asked her out, she said yes?"

"I guess."

"Poor girl."

"You're just jealous," I stuck my tongue out at him. No blushing, Jess. Not in front of this dimwit.

"Yeah, of you. Celeste is so hot."

"I know, Leo. I know."

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a short note from julia: so i turns out i suck at writing in first person and in past tense IM SORRY OK AND THIS WAS SO SHORT UGH i should get back to top bunk at least thats in third person present tense o ops im rambling now (full stop)