Fabriella Starr

Chapter Three

How cool is this? Ariella thought as she and Mae left the hot food line of the cafeteria pavilion outside. A crowd of students sat at square gold and red picnic tables beneath the stone pillared structure enjoying their lunches in the fresh outdoors. Or in this case, the chicken and fries scented outdoors. There was even a stage in the back of the courtyard with historical buildings and glossy skyscrapers as its backdrop. Ariella had no idea what it was used for, but who cared? This school rocked!

Mae studied the contents of her lunch try. "I've always wondered how they made chicken nuggets into such weird shapes."

Ariella was too busy gaping at someone up ahead to listen. "Sha!"

Mae's jaw dropped at the rude reply. "It's a very reasonable question."

"No." Ariella pointed out in front of her. "Look."

Mae spotted the table that captured Ariella's attention. "Sha! It's the guy from the deodorant commercial."

"Danny Lockhart." Ariella gave a dreamy sigh. She had seen every commercial he had ever done and this was by far the cutest he'd ever been. And now they were classmates! "I bet he smells much fresher in person. Let's go say hi."

"Wait." Mae lifted her arm and discreetly sniffed her pit. "We're good."

They shuffled over and dropped down at Danny's table. "Hi!" Ariella giggly greeted. "We're big fans."

"We love your Teen Dream Deodorant commercial." Mae raised her arm. "Can you sign my armpit?"

Danny looked reasonably weirded out by the request. Ariella cranked Mae's arm down before she scared him away. "The commercial with the runaway dog is my favorite."

Danny smiled nostalgically. "Oh, Snap-A-Leash. It's one of my favorites too."

Mae pouted. "The puppy was so adorable."

Danny looked off into the distance as a breeze played in his perfectly polished hair. "Sadly, he's no longer with us."

"Oh, no." Ariella clutched her necklace. "What happened?"

"He actually ran away. Those leashes are not as reliable as my character claims."

Suddenly, Caleb slid into the seat on the other side of Danny. "What's up, girls? Danny, my man. How's it going?"

Danny looked confused. "Do I know you?"

Caleb tore open a mayonnaise packet. Only he would put mayo on chicken nuggets. The guy was twisted. "We've been going to the same school since elementary."

That didn't seem to ring any of Danny's bells, though Ariella couldn't imagine anyone forgetting someone like Caleb. Whether they wanted to or not. "Sorry, man."

Mae tapped Ariella and nodded toward Torin as she moved toward their table. "Spotlight hog alert."

Caleb smiled and raised a hand at Torin. "Sup, sis."

Horrified, Torin hid her face behind her hand and hurried past them.

Ariella could feel her eyebrows jabbing her hairline. "She's your sister?" How could someone with such cute hair accessories be related to someone wearing...that monstrosity? It made no sense.

Caleb chomped on a mayoed nugget. "She doesn't like to be seen with me. Just between us, I think she's intimidated by my style." He popped his jacket collar then realized he smeared mayo all over it. He shrugged and kept eating.

"Oh!" Danny pointed to Caleb. "You're Torin's weird younger brother."

Caleb happily nodded to confirm. Then he frowned. "Wait, weird?"

"What's the deal with her taking over the talent show?" Mae asked. She just couldn't get over it could she?

"She's obsessed with being the center of attention and she hates competition," Caleb said."The last time someone tried to enter the talent show, she stuffed his head in his tuba."

Ariella's fingers combed through her hair. Just the thought made her want to stay as far away from horned instruments as possible.

"It would be nice to see something new for a change," Danny said.

Mae pointed a fry at Ariella. "She has something new."

"Are you thinking about being in the talent show?" Danny gave that gorgeous smile Ariella recognized from his various ads. She knew it. His teeth really were that perfect in real life. They gleamed under the sunlight just like in his Twinkle Toothpaste commercial. Mae claimed no one could be that flawless and even tried to convince her that he was airbrushed, but there was nothing fake about the boy sitting in front of her. He was the teen dream.

She gazed into his angelic eyes, unable to say anything but, "Uh, huh."

"Cool. I'll see you there." Danny checked his phone. "I have to go. I have an audition for a go kart commercial." He lifted a red and black helmet from underneath the table and stood up, exposing his matching jumpsuit. He placed the helmet on his head and gave a thumbs up before taking off.

Ariella followed him with her eyes until he disappeared from sight. She blinked out of her trance and glanced from Mae to Caleb, suddenly not feeling so well. "What did I just do?"

Caleb's straw sucked the bottom of his milk carton clean. "I hope you're not a tuba player."

***

What would you do in the school talent show? Stay tuned to see how Ariella does!

-Love, Charly