Ring of Fire *not finished* More added 8-5!

by **PugsRock** 6/9/2009, 5:15 pm

Maturity: Romance, crushes. Kissing, as of now, a non-descriptive kiss. Talk of small violence. Dating.
Fantasy: None. Characters are humans.

Ring of Fire:
Love is a burning thing.

Chapter 1: The Things We Don't Know

I watch as Mrs. Asken hobbles across the hallway to her apartment room carrying five bags of groceries. "Do you need help?" I call down. She stumbles and lifts her head up. I dash over to where she is standing and grab three bags, almost tripping myself.
"I'm sorry for being such a bother," Mrs. Asken says. She always uses that word- 'bother'. She's around 75 years old, and even though she calls capri pants 'pedal pushers', I love her like she's my grandmother.
I chuckle, "It's okay, Mrs. Asken."
"Thank you, Margaret, she says, handing me a cookie from the bag she was holding. I tried not to think about how she calls me 'Margaret' all the time. No one at school does. Over there I'm Maggie, but I'm so unpopular that not many people know who I am.
I remember when I dropped my bright red glasses case on the ground. I was so startled that I didn't notice who picked it up- Matt Wrighte, the most popular boy in school. He said, "Who's Maggie McKarrow?" -even pronouncing my name wrong- and then just left the case there and walked to the lunch room.
I smile at Mrs. Asken and check my chunky waterproof black watch. 10 minutes until the bus comes, which was enough time for a quick conversation. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure!" she chirps and leads me into her room. I sit down on a wood chair near the door and a clock.
I sigh. "Were you popular back when you were in school?"
"Well, yes, but does it matter?" she asks. Yes. "Just because I was popular doesn't mean I was mean to everyone around me. There is a difference between having friends and having followers. If you really want to be popular, all you have to do is put on a smile and say a nice thing. Popular girls make everyone around them feel special, not unimportant."
She was getting it all wrong. "Maybe when you were in school, Mrs. Asken, but things have changed. All the popular girls are beautiful and put others down and laugh with boys. I just want to fit in like them," I confessed. I had never told anyone this, not even my mom.
"Maybe the key to fitting in is to stand out. Think about it."
She heaves herself up and walks into her small kitchen area to make some tea. "Thanks, Mrs. Asken!" I call as I run to the elevator with my backpack on my shoulder. I saw her smile in a way that said, "I'm glad to know a girl like you."

- - -

"Hi!" I said to Maria Petruch, a girl I'm surprised I even recognized. "Hey," I said to John Tamplin. Everyone I greeted looked at me disaprovingly, except for Luke Adams. Luke is Matt Wrighte's best friend and lives in the apartment building next to mine. I'm the only one that knows that he's poor. It makes me feel important. Anyway, my family is close to his, but Luke hates me.
Why is that?
I don't remember doing anything wrong to him- well maybe one thing. But I was having a phase, a temporary time of being out to get everyone. Yes, I threw a stick at him. And maybe I pushed him into a tree. Those were normal things. He was being annoying, so I just hit him. The only other thing I remember doing is throwing him over a fence and my family's annual barbeque.
That's not bad, right?
Well, maybe it is. I mean, he hit his head and passed out, but you would think he's over it by now. I'm not a bad person anymore- not like I ever was one. but still.
I don't really care if Luke hates me anyway. I don't like him or anything.
Luke said, "Never going to happen," when I said "Hello" to him.
"What are you talking about, Luke? I don't like you."
He chuckles and gets his friends to join in. "We all know you do. But get over it, Margaret. Why would I ever want to date someone who's best friend is a 70-year old with no husband, kids, and life? At the rate you're going at, you'll probably grow up to be just like her."
"At least I haven't lied to every person in the grade," I sneer.
Luke lifts one eyebrow. "Where are you going with this?"
I'm on a roll, I think to myself. Feel free to call me butter. "You don't live in the home next to the Sky Line Apartments. You live in the apartments with me. Your dad isn't a banker, he doesn't even have a job. And you're lucky that your mom makes enough money from working at Wal-Mart to pay for you and your brothers things."
Luke looks at me in shock for a few seconds, then relieves himself and says, "Wow, Margaret. This is really sinking low. You must have a problem with jealousy."
"Number one, Lucas Cornelius, my name is not Margaret, it is Maggie. Number two, I do not like you. Do you need me to spell it out? If I liked you, pushing you over a fence at a picnic wouldn't do me much good."
I look at his two green eyes and his sand colored hair. I look at how tall he is, and how he has dimples when we smiles. This I've all seen before, but something different happens this time around. I like him, there's no doubt about it. I remember when we were young and we would sit by the lake at the park and feed the ducks. We would talk about our parents and what we were excited for. If he teased me I would mess up his hair and then we would drag me into the shallow waters of the lake. We would then chase the fish that inhabited the water. People didn't know this about Luke and I. Maybe it would be funny to tell someone, but no. That just leads to more rumors, and it would probably just hurt Luke. I don't want to hurt him.
What am I saying? No, no, no! This is not happening. How could I not even know this about myself, that I like Luke? All this stress about popularity is knocking me off course.
"Who's Cornelius?" Matt asked.
If looks could kill, I'd be in my grave right now. "It's a joke," I sigh.
"How much can you talk to Cornelius that you made up a joke about him?" Matt asks.
I am about to answer when a stampede of students come from homeroom, which we have missed by talking. "I can't believe I'm late." I dash down the hall.
The last thing I hear from them is, "Nerd."

Chapter 2: And You Call Me a Liar

I am standing at the front of the lunch room, clutching my lunch tray as tight as I can, trying to get the courage to sit a Luke's table. I take a step forward and then a step backwards.
"Hey. Make up your mind," I hear behind me. Luke.
I know he is watching me walk to his table and sit at an open area. I look around to see that the only open space at the table for Luke is next to me. Perfect.
A girl walks up to me and says, "Um, person, excuse me? Yeah. If you're lost, I can direct you to the loser table, over there by the trash cans. This is my seat, right next to"- she sighs- "Luke. So get away, or I'll do it for you."
I say nothing to her, just look at her blonde hair. She looks like Luke, except her eyes are dark brown -almost black- and she doesn't have the same cute dimples as him.
Cute?! I'm going crazy. I just know it.
"Hey Amy," Luke says, not even looking at me. He sits down and picks up his bread stick.
Amy gasps, "Hello? Do you not notice this girl sitting at my spot right next to you?"
"Hey, person." I giggle and salute him.
Amy groans and stomps her expensive red high heels over to the table next to the one I was sitting at. "I can't believe this."
While Amy is talking to a different boy at her table, I turn to Luke. "Are you mad at me?" I ask.
"You sound like your in Second Grade. No, I'm not mad at you." I smile. This was easier than I thought. "But you have to do something nice to me. Kind of like payback."
My stomach lurches. This was not going to be easy. "You have to tell everyone that you like me." I gulp.
"Luke!"
"It's not that big of a deal. We all know already." My mouth opens to show my shock, but all that I get is another laugh from Luke. "If you're nervous, I suggest you practice on me."
I open my mouth to begin talking, then stop. "Just say the truth, Margaret."
"I..."

"I well, I like you."
Luke smiles. "Who doesn't?"
"Luke!" I hit him.
He chuckles yet again. "Are you coming to the BBQ tomorrow?"
"Why wouldn't I be? It's my family hosting it. Are you coming?" I ask. Does he want me to come? My heart jumps. I would love that.
"Yeah. It's going to be so lame. Old folk songs and that junk." My heart isn't jumping anymore; it's sinking.
I sit up straighter. "I'll be there."
"Even worse." His face is grave, and I'm secretly hoping he's just a good actor.
I laugh, thinking he is teasing me. "I'm serious." He says.
"And you think I'll believe anything you say after lying so much?"
Now Luke wasn't chuckling. "Get over it, Maggie."
I don't say anything to him, just drink my chocolate milk like I hadn't heard a thing. La, la, la. Not a care in the world.
I wish.

~ ~ ~

I knock on Mrs. Asken's black door. "Hello!" she chirps. The door opens and I step in. "How did it go today?"
"Not so good. I ended up having enemies instead of friends."
"I'm sorry, Margaret. This is tragic."
My situation isn't that bad. It could be worse.
And it does. A boy walks through the door. "Hey, Mrs. A. Wha"-
"Matt?" I scream.
"Matt!" Mrs. Asken exclaims happily. "I made you your favorite, Super Choco Cocoa Cookies!"
He walks over to her and hugs her; it's all so awkward and unreal. Now he turns to me with a face that says, "Don't tell anyone!"
"Matt, how do you know Mrs. Asken?" I ask.
He frowns. "She's close to our family. She's kind of like a grandmother to me. I don't have any."
"Seriously?" I ask.
"Yeah, they died before I was born. Except for Pops. But he died shortly after I was born. I only have one picture of me with him. We were fishing together and I had a life vest and a fisherman's hat and the pole was twice my size."
I bite my lip. "Do you remember him?"
"Yeah. Kind of. I remember that he was the one who taught me to swim. He was really smart. I miss him. A lot."
I spot a tear in Mrs. Asken's eye. She must have been great friends with him. I hand her a tissue.
"Thank you, darling. I'll be in the kitchen, making some tea." She stumbles off.
Matt looks me in the eye. "You know, Luke thinks you're pretty cool."
I grin. "Really?" Then I calm myself. Matt thinks I don't like Luke. Well, he knows I like him, but still...
"Yeah. That's what he told me today when I was coming over here."
"Cool." We sit in silence, and I take the time to really look at Matt. He has shaggy brown hair that covers his left eye, which is a blue color. He has no freckles or pimples.
He is wearing a shirt with the Superman logo on it and baggy jeans. His shoes are a bright orange that didn't go with his outfit or any outfit in general.
"Do you have any siblings?" he asks.
I stiffen. "Well, I did. But she died when she was 2."
"We're disasters."
"If you're a disaster, disasters must really be in right now."
He smiles. I beam on the inside. "I should, you know, start my homework," I say. 'Bye?"
"Nice talking to someone who understands." He winks.

Chapter 3: The Time of My Life

I put on my favorite black-blue skinny jeans and white flip flops and reach for my bright green tank top.
I shout, "Mom! Are you ready to go?"
She screamed back, "In a minute!" I found her in the bathroom, putting on makeup.
"It's a barbeque, Mom, it doesn't matter. Let's go!" I tug on her red sleeve.
"Since when are you excited about this, honey?" she asked suspiciously.
I stumbled over what to say next. I lied, "I'm just so hungry! Come on!"
She took the room key and led me out, calling to my dad to come when he is ready. She marched down the steps and ran across the street to the community park, setting down the large red blanket.
Soon Luke's family came. I sat alone by the lake most of the time, thinking about the old memories from the past barbeques here.
In the midst of my daydreams, I felt a tug on my leg and I was pushed into the water. "Get off of me!" I screamed, gasping for air.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Luke's brother laughing and my family crowded in front of me.
"Are you okay?" my mom asked.
I giggled. "Yeah, I'm fine. The water's shallow. I stood up, showing that the water didn't even reach my hips.
I looked to my left to see Luke's amused eyes. I stuck my tongue out at him. When my family wasn't looking, he sat down where the grass meets the water.
"So, you do like me, don't you!" I yelled, splashing him in the face.
He raised his left eyebrow. "Where did you get that from?"
"I got people."
"What?"
I wink (which looks more like my eyes are twitching) and splash him again- my form of flirting.
Otherwise known as an epic failure.
He shouts, "Oh, look, the food is ready!"
I leap out of the water and catch his hand while he is speed-walking away from me. My mom looks over and smiles, tapping my dad to look at Luke and I holding hands.
No, no, no! I didn't mean that. I just didn't want him to leave. I immediately dropped his hand and put mine behind my back. He turned away.
He led me behind a tree and angrily asked, "Why did you do that?"
"Because I thought you were being obnoxious.You deserve it."
"Gee, thanks."
I smirked. "You're very welcome."
He walked out from behind the tree. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him back.
"Leave me alone, would ya?" he growled.
I smiled. "I will if you tell me if you like me. Look me in the eye. Say it. Out loud." Look at me, quoting the Twilight movie.
He looked at me. "The truth."
"Yeah."
"Not a lie."
"That's what the truth is."
"Right now."
"Yes."
"Not any later."
"Luke!" I shouted.
He murmers, "Okay. Here goes nothing."

"I kind of like you. But it's a minature crush. You know."
I grinned. "Well, I like you, too."
"I knew that."
"Of course you did." I dug my foot into the ground. "So..."
He looked down. "Want to...?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's go to the lake."
"Good idea."
We walk with about a foot of distance between us. I pick up a handful of stones and attempt to skip then across the smooth surface of the lake.
Skipping stones is not one of my talents.
"You need help," Luke says.
"Thanks," I say sarcastically.
He gently held my wrist and swiftly moved it through the air. I let go of the stone. It bounced twice.
"Better," he chuckled, unimpressed. He demonstrated the correct way, and the stone skipped six times.
I giggled, "Show off."
He smiled and sat down. I followed his movements. Luke took my hand. "You want to go on a da- walk with me tomorrow?"
I grinned."I don't know..." I bit my lip. "Yes!"
"Cool."
I frowned, "But..."
"Oh, no."
"My mom wouldn't like it. She says that fifteen is too young. We'd have to be secretive."
Luke laughed. "Even better."
I gave him a confused look.
"Here's my number," Luke said, taking my phone from my pocket and pressing the buttons rapidly.
I grinned dreamily. "Th.. th... thanks."
And the rest of the night was spent with the rest of our families, Luke and I sitting together under the stars.

*Rest of story on page 7, post 5*