Sketchpads and Guitars

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“My first song is dedicated to ‘Just Mary’” Bash mimics his little brother as they entered the dorm room

“Shut up Bash” Francis said quite annoyed

“Who is this ‘just Mary’?” Bash inquired while grinning widely

“She’s a girl I met at the party” Francis said

“You’ve never dedicated a song for anyone before, not even Olivia” Bash said still teasing his brother

“well, I’ve never met anyone like her, that’s why… she’s different from all the other girls” Francis said as he sits on his bed

“What makes her different?” Bash asked

“I think she saw me as me and not as ‘the guy who can sing’, it’s seems that people already put a label on me before they even met me…as if that label alone defines my whole being” Francis said

“so… you like her because she didn’t know you were famous?” Bash said clearly mocking

“no, idiot” Francis said

“no… meaning you don’t like her or no meaning I didn’t get your point clearly?” Bash said still teasing his little brother, it’s the first time that Bash sees his brother like this. Oftentimes, Francis won’t even give a second glance to the girls that follow him in and outside the campus. After Olivia cheated on Francis, Bash thought that his little brother already gave up on love.

“figure it out” Francis said already wanting Bash to drop the subject

“you want to know what I think?... I think we naturally strive for the ones that we can’t get, that no matter how many girls out there are willing to give their hearts to you, you will still want to go for the girl who doesn’t like you back” Bash said

“what makes you think that I can’t get Mary and she doesn’t like me back?” Francis asked

“I don’t know, I just assumed” Bash said while laughing

“you’re always the pessimist, brother. I’m remaining positive, so keep your negative thoughts to yourself” Francis said as he strides towards the bathroom

“whatever you say, little brother, whatever you say” Bash said as he shakes his head while smirking

~~*~~

3 days later

Mary is feeling so nervous for the first day of class, she actually doesn’t know what to expect yet and she’s not sure if she’s nervous about the professors or about meeting other students. The last time someone talked to her, she immediately grew cold and anti-social, her main concern is that people might think she’s snob because of her timidity and if that happens, her hopes in gaining more friends would be gone. She’s on her way to her building when she heard someone calling her name.

“Mary!”

“Mary, wait!” A boy with a British accent called her from afar

She stopped walking and glanced to the direction where the voice came, then she saw HIM, Francis… jogging towards her

“I knew it was you” Francis said while catching his breath

“uhm, hi” Mary said shyly, she hates it when she acts like this, she’s really trying her best to remain ‘normal’ when Francis is around but the loud beating of her heart is not making it possible

“the last time I saw you at the party, you were sitting all by yourself, I looked for you later that night but you were nowhere to be found” Francis said

“uhm yeah, my friend and I left early” Mary said

“oh, uhm… were you still there when we performed?” Francis said hoping that Mary heard his dedication to her

“yeah, uhm you sang pretty well, and oh… thanks for the dedication” Mary said with a smile

Francis can feel himself blushing, Mary thanked and complimented him about his singing, he’s used to the compliments from other people but Mary’s definitely made his heart jump for joy, and he’s pretty sure his heart skipped a beat when Mary smiled at him for the first time.

“thanks and you deserved it… the dedication I mean” Francis said while grinning widely

“uhm may I walk you to class?” Francis added, not wanting to end their conversation

“oh you don’t need to” Mary said throwing back the smile

“you’ll be late for class if you do that” Mary quickly added after she saw the disappointment in Francis’ eyes

“my class won’t start until 9am, I still have plenty of time” Francis said, the thrill coming back to his eyes

“so, may I walk you?” Francis asked, he’s not always so persistent but when it comes to Mary, he’s different

“we’re already walking Francis” Mary said with a giggle

“I’ll take that as a yes” Francis said beaming

They walked for a few minutes more and Mary has to admit that she purposely walked slowly to be with Francis longer, when they finally arrived at the classroom, she faced Francis and thanked him, she was about to enter the room when Francis lightly touched her arm

“uhm Mary wait” Francis said

“I uh… recorded some songs to this CD, can you uh… listen to it and tell me what you think?” Francis said as he breaks eye contact and lowers his head a little. Mary can sense that he’s a bit shy, which made her smile

“of course, I would love to listen to it” Mary said while beaming

“really? Thanks a lot, I will wait for your response” Francis said

“so I guess I’ll go now” Francis added

“bye, thanks again for walking me to class” Mary said

“we should do this on a regular basis” Francis said with a wide grin

“do what on a regular basis?” an old man behind Francis said in a deep tone

“If you want to flirt with each other, do it someplace else” The old man added before he entered the classroom.

Mary and Francis just looked at each other and smiled

“well you should probably go inside now, I’m pretty sure that’s your professor” Francis said

“yeah, bye” Mary said

“oh and Mary?” Francis said

“yup?” Mary said as she glanced back

“good luck!” Francis said with a cheerful smile

“Thanks” Mary said as she smiled to Francis before entering the room