Classifieds

“So, Ellie, how long have you been with Mike?” Angela asked when the movie was over. The boys had left to get Chinese and they left the girls to talk some more. They were now all sitting on the floor in a circle.

“It’ll be a year next week,” she replied smiling.

“And how did you two meet?” Angela was curious to see if there was any way that the courtship of everyone else was stranger than the one her and William were putting on.

“Well, after moving here from England two years ago, I decided to go to warped tour since I had wanted to go for ages. I bumped into Mike after watching Panic at the Disco. He was really sweet and asked for me to stop by and watch their set. I had never heard of them before, so I was open to seeing a new band. We started talking for a bit and after tour was over he came home and that’s when we started dating.”

“Wow, that’s so sweet.” everyone said.

“It really is.” she giggled.

“Mike must have been determined to ask you out,” Angela replied.

“If you want to talk about determined then just look at Chizzy.” Sabrina put in.

“What did he do?” Angela was now more intrigued.

“I work at Starbucks and he came to get coffee obviously. So I took his order then when I called for him to get it, he asked for my number but I wasn’t looking to date at the time so I said no. He literally came in everyday for a month just trying to ask me out. This was of course before I knew who he was and it’s been two years since.”

Everyone laughed at how much effort it took Chizzy to finally ask Sabrina out. They were all caught up laughing that they didn’t notice the front door open and hear the boys walk down the stairs to the basement where they were.

“I’m assuming you’re talking about us since you’re laughing so much,” Butcher said.

“No, of course not hun,” Cricket replied hugging him.

“We don’t believe you,” Sisky said while holding Maille in his arms.

All the girls laughed at this.

“We were just telling stories of how you men used your awesome skills to woo us,” Angela clarified. She looked at William who had barely entered the room with at least five bags of Chinese food in his arms. She walked over to him, grabbed a couple bags and proceeded to join everyone else so they could eat.

Every couple took a bag of food and sat down next to each other whether it was on the floor or the couches. William took Angela’s hand and led her to a spot close to the stairs leading into the basement. They sat on the floor and took out their small containers of Chinese food along with their drinks and fortune cookies.

“I got you your favorite Chinese dish,” William said. He sounded different now, and Angela didn’t know whether or not to be concerned.

“And how do you know what my favorite Chinese dish is?” she asked, surprised.

“It’s just something good boyfriends are supposed to know so I figured I would learn it.”

“So basically you went through my refrigerator back home?”

“Yes, I did, but that was part of my investigation of being a good boyfriend. I looked at the majority of books you had too and I realized you were obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe.”

“Anyone who has gone into my apartment could tell right off the bat that I love Edgar Allan Poe,”

“But they wouldn’t have the initiative to look through all those Edgar Allan Poe books and collections and realize that your favorite story by him is ‘The Telltale Heart’.”

“You went through all of the books for the little earmarks I made where that story is?” she replied. Angela didn’t know what to think of this, in all her life, no one had ever showed that much interest in her to actually remember those little details about her.

“Pretty much, you are very fascinating when it comes to the little things you like.”

“So are you,” she said. “Like when you’re writing, you wear your glasses instead of your contacts and this is all the time. Or that you like to eat your waffles with peanut butter.”

“How did you know about the peanut butter thing?”

“Well, considering I like to eat peanut butter a lot, I tend to notice who finishes my waffles and peanut butter in the same day.” she smiled as she started digging into her little box of food. The food they were having today was probably the best Chinese food she had had in a long time. William then joined her in digging in to their food.

They both looked at all the other couples in the room and noticed major similarities in how they were situated. The girl was cuddled up close to the guy and they all had a look upon their faces that said that they loved where they were in that exact moment.

“I wonder what’s it’s like to be in such love like they all are,” William whispered gesturing to all the couples who were too occupied to notice their conversation.

“I do too sometimes. It would be nice to have one person to you could tell anything to and who could make your heart skip a beat at the best of times.”

“Hmm, I agree.” he replied putting an arm around her. Her heart skipped a beat and her thoughts started racing. This somehow increased as he took his hand and intertwined it with hers.

“Bill?”

“Yeah?” he murmured as if to be in another world.

“Did you-?” she trailed off a bit but he cut her off.

“Mhm, I felt it too,” he read her mind.

“Have you ever felt this way before?” she asked. Now she felt as if it was not the time for conversation but just a time to sit and enjoy each other’s company. She constantly tried to remind herself that everyone else from the band was only a few feet away.

“Never, have you?”

“Not at all,” she replied quietly as she smiled at him and reached for their fortune cookies. William took one and almost as if on cue, they opened them at the exact same time while looking at each other.

They each read them silently, and then traded instantaneously. After reading what the other got, they were shocked to see that they had both gotten the same fortune.

True love is right in front of you, you just have to take it by the hand and never let go.

Angela looked at William for a moment then leaned in and placed a simple kiss on his lips. This took him by surprise because he had never expected her to make a move. Was their fake relationship finally getting past coincidences and getting somewhere?