unexpected - ruel van dijk

lunch

as ruel and i walk off the bus onto the main strip in newtown, a vinyl shop instantly catches my eye. 

"vinyls"  i say. ruel looks at me, confused.

"what?" he asks; but before i can even be bothered to answer him, i have already begun to walk inside the shop, opening the door to the soft chime of a bell. i deeply inhale the authentic smell of the store, that's literally the only way i can describe the feeling i get when i walk into a vinyl store. goosebumps run over my entire body. ruel follows me in. "you listen to vinyls?!" he asks me, an excited tone underlies his voice. 

"i'm actually obsessed" i answer him as i begin to search through one of the tubs. i pull out an elton john record and dust it off. it's his album 'goodbye yellow brick road'. "I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS EVERYWHERE!" i gasp. ruel walks over.

"oh, i've met him" he tells me. i look at him, my eyes are immensely wide.

"NO WAY" i  say. "he's like actually one of my all time favourite artists." ruel pulls out his phone and within 30 seconds i'm looking at a photo of ruel standing with elton john. "oh my god" i say. ruel laughs at me as i lowkey freak the fuck out.

"he's super cool, we talked about song writing and stuff. he heard some of my music and played it on his radio station" he tells me. my eyes grow even wider than before and i raise my hand to cover my mouth in pure shock. 

"ruel that's actually fucking insane holy shit" i say. ruel nods and smiles sheepishly.

"i know," he says "it happened a couple of years ago and it still hasn't really sunk in." i shake my head, still in a blatant state of shock as i take the elton john vinyl up to the counter to pay for it. the shop owner puts it in a bag and ruel and i walk back out of the shop onto the street. "what do you want for lunch?" he asks me.

"i don't mind," i reply "we could go and grab some food and take it to the park and eat it there?" i suggest.

"yeah that sounds good," he says. "you down for some hot chips?"

"yeah actually i kinda feel like that" i nod. i honestly can't believe how comfortable i feel walking with ruel. he seems like such a down to earth guy, considering he's fucking met elton john. we walk to get hot chips and then we continue to walk towards camperdown park, which is at the centre of newtown. eventually we get to the park and ruel crashes down onto a bench clumsily. i sit down on the ground in front of him and lean back on my arms.

"so what's the deal?" he says, as he shoves chips into his mouth.

"what do you mean?" i ask him, as i lean over and grab a handful of chips.

"like what's your story?" he asks me. "how old are you? when's your birthday? any fears?-" he pauses; "weird fetishes" he makes a weird-ass face and laughs. i laugh and shake my head.

"i'm 16 turning 17 and my birthday is actually on christmas eve which is kinda funny" i say.

"see! that's interesting" he exclaims, "my birthday is the 29th of october" he tells me.

"so you're a scorpio huh" i say. ruel nods.

"yep," he replies "i'm not really into all that zodiac stuff though, so i don't really know what it means." i look at him and my face must show how shocked i feel because ruel then adds: "is that a bad thing?" and laughs.

"where do i begin?" i joke. "basically, scorpio is a water sign. which means you're intuitive and you have a deep understanding of your emotions" ruel nods in agreement.

"i mean, you can say that" he says.

"you also know what you want, and you know how to get it" i say.

"yeah that's pretty accurate actually; i'm usually determined to do my best with my music and stuff" he replies. 

"i'm literally so obsessed with zodiac signs" i inform him.

"no shit sherlock" ruel laughs and i playfully push him.

"i'm a capricorn, with a cancer moon" i say. "that means i'm really headstrong when i'm completing something; but my moon sign kinda means that i'm overly emotional at times." 

"that's actually really interesting" he says.

"my past relationship didn't work out at all, because my ex really didn't know how to read me. nor did i know how to read him" i say. i actually can't believe i'm telling a literal stranger all of this personal stuff.

"damn, i actually know what you mean" ruel says bewilderedly as he runs his hand through his brown hair. "i had a pretty bad break up last year." he tells me. "and it took me forever to get over her," i nod slowly as all the memories of my breakup flooded back into my mind. "you see, it takes me forever to get over people once i like them;  it's as if they become burned into my  mind."

"that's such a scorpio thing oh my god" i laugh. ruel laughs as well.

"but instead of letting it affect me forever, i just write songs about it and use performing them as my emotional outlet."

"damn i wish i could sing, it sounds like good therapy" i laugh.

"it actually is" he says as he continues to finish off the remaining chips. "do you want the last chip?" he asks me.

"nah i'm okay" i say. he throws the chip up into the air and catches it in his mouth. i applaud him. we get up and walk towards the newtown train station. eventually we cross the road and reach the station.

"you can't tell anyone this, because it's kind of a huge secret-" ruel tells me.

"of course, i literally have no friends to tell" i laugh.

"no seriously you have to swear not to tell a soul until it's out" he says.

"okay okay, i swear on my life" i reply.

"good, i'm releasing a new song soon; and i'm also going on tour" he exclaims.

"dude, that's so sick oh my god" i say.

"yeah, and i'm playing the fucking opera house" he adds.

"holy shit! ruel that's insane!" i say. "i'll have to listen to your music when i get home, you must be pretty fucking good" ruel smiles and looks at the floor.

"i'd really love it if you could come to my sydney leg of the tour, if you want" he says "i mean, i wish you could come on tour in general, but obviously you have school and stuff" he adds.

"i would love to! message me a time, place and i'll be there!" i tell him as we reach the entrance to the station. "my train's pulling up" i tell him.

"thanks for today," he leans in for a hug and i hug him back.

"it was actually the best day i've had in a long time" i exclaim.

"likewise," he replies as i walk away to get onto the train. i see him in the distance and wave again.

"see ya!" i yell. he waves back and smiles as the train doors close and the train moves away.

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thank you so much for reading this chapter, i'm having some really interesting ideas about where this can go and i am so excited.

you have no idea how much it motivates me to write when people tell me to update or that they like my writing. it means the world when ya'll vote and comment on my chapters!

anyway, hope you liked it and i'll try and update as soon as i can xx