honeydew

chapter one

"I love you." He whispers, eyes full of emotion and voice low.

I stare at him in a trance, unable to look away. The power of his words and intensity in his eyes drew me in, but the delivery is definitely what made me stay.

Gosh, he's good.

"You'll nail the audition." I smile warmly up at Sam, my best friend of six years.

Sam had always had his heart set in theatre since the day our seventh grade class went to see a reenactment of Shakespeare's King Lear. He was passionate, and more importantly, really good.

"You think so?" He says, nervously pulling his fingers to crack his knuckles.

I wince at the sound, and he stops immediately. I can't stand the sound of knuckle cracking. It's just so terrible.

"Sorry." He murmurs sheepishly, beginning to pace around my room.

"Yes, Sam, you've got this in the bag." I reassure him with the most confidence I can insert in my tone.

In all honesty, I don't even know why he's nervous. He's been in every play the school's done since freshman year.

"I don't know, what if I mess up? Maybe I just won't go out this year." He says that every year.

I nod my head with a light smile, barely listening as I flop down from my sitting position to laying on my back on the bed.

I stare up at the ceiling, tracing the figures on each poster taped up there.

The near death experience I had getting those up there is its own story, but basically I obviously didn't even use a ladder because I'm a manly man.

I'm the tallest alpha male in the world.

I should start a podcast.

"Lizzie? Are you even listening?" I sit up, looking over at him to see an even more vexed look haunting his face.

"Of course." I motion for him to come over to me and he does, crossing his legs and turning to face me on the bed.

"You will do amazing because you've always been amazing, okay? You're a natural." I pat his knee, hoping he would realize the truth in my words.

All I receive is a soft smile meant to mask a still unconvinced look of anxiety etched on his face.

What smiles can't fix, sugar can.

"C'mon, let's go get ice cream."

***

"Didn't Juliet dye her hair red?"

"Yeah, I think it's because it's Ricky's favorite color."

"Ricky, Jonah's best friend?"

"Mhm."

"Didn't she date Jonah?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Wow, moving on with the best friend."

"Puh-lease, we all knew she liked Ricky from the start."

Holy hummus on a cracker.

Sam looks over at me with wide eyes sparkling in amusement. While eating our heavenly ice cream, two girls had come over and sat in the booth right behind ours. The store being relevantly empty and quiet, Sam and I now had all the drama on Ricky, Jonah, and Juliet.

Boy oh boy.

"Do we know a Ricky?" I ask Sam curiously as we step out of the store. "Or a Jonah? Or a Juliet?"

"I don't think so, but whoever Ricky is sounds hot as hell." He answers, fanning himself.

I only giggle, stepping up to wait at the zebra.

"Ooh ooh, did I tell you my country girl joke?" I ask him, a smile automatically drawing itself up on my face.

"No?" Sam answers hesitantly. He's not exactly the biggest fan of my dad jokes, but if you ask me, they're the most dignified and classiest form of humor.

Barely able to contain my excitement, I jump up and down a little bit. "How do you get a country girl?"

"I don't know." He draws out the 'w' slightly and I can only feel my excitement build.

"You a tractor." Laughs spill out of my mouth despite my strong efforts to stop them.

I swear I'm the funniest person I know.

Sam lets out a small chuckle, probably just to humor me, but it doesn't really bother me.

"So, where to now?" I ask once I've recovered.

We crossed the zebra and began walking on a patch of sidewalk. Sunlight shines down on us lightly, creeping through the trees and around the walls of buildings.

"The fountain?" Sam suggests and I nod happily.

'The fountain' was a pretty little structure resting in the middle of Courier Park. On warm days, it was mine and Sam's favorite place to go.

We chattered mindlessly until turning a corner into the park, my heart warming at the sight of the familiar benches, bushes and flowers, and sprinkles of water flying from the outpour.

"Last one to the fountain's a rotten egg." I yell, bolting forward trying my best to beat Sam.

AN: hi >:) I hope you liked the first chapter for Honeydew! The first like four chapters will be kinda short, but they will become much longer in a little bit. 

Next chapter going up soon!

How'd you guys like this one?

I hope to see everyone in the next chapter! If not, thanks for reading this one :)

- riti <3