Finding Belle (a Ricky Bowen fanfiction)🌹

Chapter Fifty-One

Isabella Johnson

"Bells, have you decided if you are going to open night yet?" Brandon said with puppy eyes to me as we walked to my locker.

"No, I have not decided yet. I hope that you are not mad if I choose not to go." I said while putting in my locker combination.

"I won't be mad. I understand why you don't want to go, but I'd really like you to come. The theater department has been working hard on this production and its your favorite Disney movie. Your practically Belle. Your attractive and you read books. You also sing. There's no doubt that the Beast will fall for you." Brandon said daydreaming to himself.

"Yeah right. I doubt he'd ask me to be his date or do anything with him. I'm just a rebound girl and will always be that to him. Please give up your daydream B. I appreciate the offer but I think I'd rather do chores than see him for two hours." I replied while taking books out of my locker.

Once again, I glanced at the school entrance and saw Ricky walking in with Big Red. It was as if he did the same thing every morning to get my attention.

Why can't he just go talk to Nini on the phone instead of looking so damn cute?

"Bells, you okay? You kind of dazed off for a moment. Did you get enough sleep?" Brandon said to me snapping me out of my daydream.

"Hmm yeah. Just thinking about the quiz that we have in literature. I gotta get to class early and study. I'll see you at lunch B." I said to him as I walked off to class.

I hope that he didn't catch on to me staring at Ricky. It's just a habit I have now even though Ricky hurt me a lot.

When I got to the Literature classroom, I looked around for Ricky but didn't see him anywhere, so I decided that it was safe to sit in my usual seat in the back row.

A minute before the bell rang, Ricky walked in with his head down and sat in one of the chairs that was open in the middle row. I was thankful that he got my message not to bother me anymore, but I kind of missed seeing his curls bop on his head as he looked around class.

Throughout the lesson, I kept glancing at Ricky to see if he would send me anymore notes or look back at me, but he didn't. I know that he hurt me multiple times and he still loves Nini, but I kind of missed having a guy friend who wasn't Brandon.

No offense, to Brandon. He's an amazing best friend but sometimes its nice to talk to some who can relate to your problems at home.

***********

"Hey Bells, what's up with you today? You keep dazing off. Are you daydreaming or something or are you sleepy? You can take a nap if you need to it's lunch period." Brandon said to me as we sat down on our favorite bench.

"Hmm. Oh nothing. I'm not tired. Just have a lot on my mind. You know deciding if I want to go to the musical and all?" I said nervously as I took my lunch out of my brown bag.

"Let me guess, you've been thinking about Ricky again?" Brandon said as he nudged my shoulder gently.

"Not exactly. I mean, I have been thinking about if I'm going to opening night or not. It still hurts B. Everything he did to me and said to me. It's not fair why do I have to be rebound girl?" I said to him as I leaned on his shoulder tearing up.

Thankfully, there weren't many students outside around us, so no one could watch me cry.

 This is so embarrassing I'm crying over Ricky Bowen.

"Oh Bells, its okay to cry. I'm sorry about him. Boys suck, at least you have me." Brandon said as he stroked my hair.

"I'm sorry for getting your shirt wet B. You need a clean shirt for rehearsals." I said after a moment while wiping my tears away and picking my head up off of his shoulder.

"It's okay. I have to wear my costume anyway since we are making final corrections to the show. Why don't you let all your feelings out in the best way that you know? Songwriting. I'm sure that will help you take some of the pain away for now." Brandon said as he wiped my tears away with his thumb.

"Ok. You are right B. Boys aren't worth crying over. I think I have some lyrics in mind. You are the best best friend ever B." I said as I hugged him and then got my songwriting notebook out.

"Don't forget to eat your lunch Bells or else I'll take your carrot sticks again." Brandon said to me jokingly.

"Don't you dare, B." I laughed at him since he loved carrot sticks as much as I do.

"What lyrics do you have in mind? Looks like you already have a verse or two." Brandon said to me as he fed me a carrot stick while I wrote in my notebook.

"Here, look at this. I really like it so far but it needs some work." I said as I gave him my notebook while I ate my ham sandwich.

So much on my mind
I think I think too much
Read between these lines
Unspoken weight of words
But time comes to rest when you are by my side, it blurs

And I will follow where this takes me
And my tomorrow's long to be unknown
When all is shaken, be my safety
In a world uncertain, say you'll be my stone

Change in every wind
The sands of time don't know our names
Oh, nothing's sure, but surely as we stand
I promise I will stay the same
And I've never seen forever
But I know we'll remain

"This is amazing Bells. Just like your other songs. I'm so proud of how far you've come. You are so going to be a song-writer. I can't wait to post about your first EP on my Twitter account." Brandon said to me daydreaming to himself.

"Thanks B. I guess strength really does come from struggle." I replied to him as we ate together.