Every Little Thing (a Paul McCartney Fanfiction)

Chapter 8

Today was finally the dance! I jumped out of bed (I think I've made a habit of that) and hopped down the stairs. I grabbed a piece of toast Mum made me, hugged her goodbye, and got on the school bus. I sat beside Emily and asked her if she was as excited as I was. She said she was, but she still believed I was more excited (well, she's not wrong). After talking and giggling like true teenage girls, the bus arrived at the high school. We got off and, of course, I started looking for Paul. He usually hung out with John, George, and Pete outside before classes, so I figured I would find him. I glanced around the schoolyard for a good five minutes, though, and never found him. "Oh, well. He's probably inside," I thought. Emily and I walked down the halls and went to our lockers in order to drop off our load of books.

"Did you see Paul anywhere, Em?" I asked her.

"No. He's around here somewhere, though, don't worry."

"I'm not worried, I just wanted to see him before classes started."

About that time, the bell rang causing me to grumble a bit while grabbing my history book.

"I guess we should get to class," I huffed.

"Suppose you're right," Emily replied as she took notice of my frustration.

"You can see him at lunch. My goodness..." she said under her breath.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm being stupid, it's just that seeing him before I start the long, dull day just helps me get in a good mood. That's all."

"That is absolutely ridiculous and somewhat cute at the same time," Emily said as we made our way towards history class.

"Thank you?"

"Hold your gratitude, I'm still not sure it was a complement!"

"You're daft, Emily Brown!"

"Ta," she replied as we walked through the doors of boring...I mean history class.

_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

After four hours of torture, it was lunchtime. I still hadn't seen Paul in the hallways or anything, but I wasn't so upset now because I knew I was literally only a few minutes away from seeing him. I met Emily and we made our way to the cafeteria. Once inside, we grabbed a tray and got our food. It was now time to find a seat. I glanced around and, much to my surprise, I didn't see Paul at his regular table. In fact, I didn't see him anywhere. Emily nudged me as if to say, "Move so we can sit down," and I obeyed her wishes. We sat down and I instantaneously started nagging her.

"Em, why isn't Paul here at lunch?"

"Well," she said as she scanned the surrounding area. After her observations were complete she replied: "You're right. He's not here."

"I know, I haven't seen him all day. What do you suppose is going on? I mean, the dance is tonight so it's not like he went out of town or something...right?"

"No, I'm sure he didn't. Maybe he just skipped lunch today. I've seen people do that before."

"Maybe, but that's not like Paul," I said as I began to absent mindedly chew on my lip.

At that exact moment, John, of all people, walked by.

"Hey, John!" I called. "Come here please, I've got something to ask you."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Emily staring at me with a puzzled look, but I simply ignored it. John stopped and turned around to see who had called his name. Once he had determined that it was me, his face went from confused to full of sarcasm.

"Hello, Mindy! How's your day going?" he said in a mocking tone.

"Just peachy, John. How about yours?"