Bea & the Broken Record

Chapter 13: Locked In

Beatrice Montgomery was one of those girls you would look at from a distance. You knew she was beautiful, and you knew you would never have a chance with someone like her. At least, that was how it was for me. Except I never really looked at her.

Before I met Bea at 5th Avenue, I hardly knew she existed. If it wouldn't have been for my friends, I wouldn't have known much about her except that she belonged to a pair of popular lawyers. That's not what got me hooked.

Now, as I stare at her walking down the hall in front of me, I wonder back to the first I looked at her. I mean really looked at her. She had those big, warm hazel eyes that mesmerized you into staring at her for hours. Her hair was so long and wavy and perfect that it made you crazy. I wanted to run my fingers through it and see if it really was silky like it looked. I wanted to feel her smooth skin in my calloused fingers and watched her eyes do that sparkle thing they do when she walks into a room.

Her smile was another thing. When her pearly white teeth shined through her bright smile, it was enough to make anyone dizzy. She was drop dead gorgeous and I didn't understand how she was single.

But as I got to know Bea, I learned more than a few things. She wasn't a normal girl. She didn't go in a different date every Friday or Saturday night. She didn't die her hair or wear the same shoes as the girls at school do. No, Bea was different. Not just on the outside, though. She was sweet. I'm sure if you were to look into her heart, it would be made of honey and sweet tarts. The girl didn't have a bad bone in her body.

But she was broken. Her sugary heart was turning into powdered sugar, carefully and slowly falling apart every time a rough patch comes. She's had so many tough patches in her life that her heart can't take it.

That's why I, Asher Hawkins, am determined to mend it. I don't want her to fall apart. I want her to come together and help hold me together. I wanted her to be fixed and back to normal, whatever normal was for her.

"Keep up, Asher." Bea smiled cheekily back at me as she twirled around, her long hair spinning around and landing over one shoulder. I wanted to call her Rapunzel due to its long length and its silkiness.

"I'm trying, Bea." I followed behind her slowly on purpose. I wanted to watch her from behind, not to stare at her back side, but to watch her every move. She ran her thin fingers along the lockers that we walked past in the hallways. Her walk was more of a skip now, too.

Falling in love with her was like running through a thunderstorm. Not walking, running. It was loud, scary, yet when you got used to it, it was nice. I loved falling in love with Bea. I love her.

If that makes any sense, because it does to me.

We were leaving the school just now, late for no reason besides lolly-gagging in the hallways after the last bell rang. I planned on telling Bea my plans for singing a song for her at our show tonight at The King. It made my heart flutter and my palms swear when I thought of singing the song. She wouldn't even know it was about her unless I told her. Did I have to tell her?

"Beatrice?" A male voice called from around the corner that I had not rounded yet. Bea was already over there and I heard her stop running her fingers along the lockers for a moment. Instead if following after her, I stayed behind the wall and waited.

"Hey, Mr. Beecher. What's up?" Bea was talking to the art teacher, Mr. Beecher. He was an awesome guy, someone she and everyone else in this school looked up to.

"Can I speak to you for a moment?" He asked gently in a light time of voice. I peaked around the corner and saw Bea searching for me with wide eyes. She was nervous, I could tell. She ran her fingers through her hair quickly before dashing into the room with Mr. Beecher.