Point Me Towards Tomorrow

Say the word and I will follow you...

Ask anyone who has known me for the last few months. They will tell you of what I mean. Ask anyone who remembers what I was like before him.

***

The four teenagers got out of the car which was parked a few block away from campus, but started walking away from it. They walked together, Estelle and Queen in the lead, for a few blocks until they came into sight of a long strip mall. On the end where they were standing was a long wall of windows and mirrors. You could see a large empty space with a stage against the far wall.

There were people already sitting on the ground and on the benches in front of the building. It was about fifteen minutes before the show was set to begin inside the building.

Like they always did, the group went past the building and walked to the other end of the strip mall to a small ice cream parlor. They entered it and stood in the short line.

"Stell, look over there," Queen whispered in Estelle's ear, pointing to a table where a young man in black was sitting. Estelle followed to where Queen was pointing with her eyes and looked at the man. He was looking straight into her eyes for a moment and then looked into his snow cone. Estelle turned back to her friend.

"That was weird," she whispered. Queen just gave her an odd look before turning back to the menu to decide what to order. Estelle could see in the mirrors behind the counter that the guy was staring at her again. He looks at least eighteen, she thought.

When the four got to the counter, they ordered. Queen got a chocolate cone, Estelle got a chocolate-dipped banana, and Holly and Zachy got a vanilla shake to split. When they had paid, they all sat down in a booth.

"Did you two see that guy over there staring at our dear Stella?" Queen asked Holly and Zachy.

"I did, I saw him in the mirror," Holly said as Zachy simply shook his head. "Zachy, why don't you ever stare at me like that?"

"How was he staring at me?" Estelle asked, even though she knew the answer.

"Estelle, you're fucking gorgeous. It's kind of hard not to stare sometimes," Zachy said, getting a light slap on the arm from Holly not long afterwards.

Estelle chuckled. "I have to disagree with that statement," she said. She looked over at the man again and then went back to her friend's conversation.

***

The show had just started. Holly and Zachy were standing around in the back, while Queen had headed straight to the small mosh pit that was getting bigger every moment. As always, Estelle stood just outside the pit, keeping her eyes on the band, but making sure that Queen was always in her eyesight. One of the first times they had gone to the club, they had gotten separated and scared.

After the first song was over, the band introduced themselves. Estelle had read on one of the shirts they had for sale that they were called 'Bombs and Beating Hearts.' She headed closer to the stage slowly to get a better look at the band. She got up close enough to see three twenty-something young men standing. As she started examining them, Queen bumped into her and then stood next to her.

"Guess who I saw in the pit, Stell," she asked her friend. When Estelle didn't answer, Queen put a hand on her cheek to turn her head. Standing just outside the mosh pit stood the guy who had been looking at Estelle in the ice cream parlor. He had turned his head away from her right as she looked. She noticed that he was shaking slightly.

She turned back to Queen. "Queenie, I'm sure it's just a coincidence," she said. The two turned back to look at him again, but he had left while they were talking. The band started playing their second song, and Queen went back into the pit. Estelle stood there for a moment before moving away from the stage to go and find Holly and Zachy.

She found them sitting on a couch in the back. They stopped kissing as soon as Holly saw her.

"Hey, what's wrong? You look terrible," Holly said as Estelle sat down next to them.

"The guy's here," she said plainly.

"And that's bad, why?"

"He creeps me out."

"Well, you'll have to talk to him soon, 'cause he's coming over here," Zachy interrupted their conversation and pointed over Holly's shoulder. The couple stood up and walked towards the stage.

Estelle wanted to get up, but just kept sitting and turned her head away from the stranger. She felt someone sit down next to her and tried her hardest to not turn towards him.

"You don't seem to be liking the band much," came a voice next to her. Out of politeness, she had to turn towards him. He had long dark hair and very light hazel eyes.

"What makes you think that?" Estelle asked him. He smelled faintly of smoke.

"Well, you're sitting back here instead of dancing, for one," he commented. Two more songs had passed while Estelle was sitting on the couch, but she hadn't been paying attention to them.

"I've been a little bit distracted today."

"Well then you should clear your mind."

Before she said anything she stopped to think. 'Is this guy hitting on me? What should I do?'

"If you don't like the band, you can tell me. I'm not related to any of them or anything," he said.

"It's not the band."

"Well then what is it?"

"Do you really think I'd tell that to a total stranger?"

"Do you want me to wait a bit before I ask you again, then?"

She couldn't help it, he was so obnoxious that it was cute. She mentally slapped herself. 'No, brain, don't think that! You just met him!'

"Like we'll actually talk again after this," she started to say when he interrupted her.

"We can, if you'll go somewhere with me next weekend." He looked very embarrassed after he said this. He had a slight blush, but it wasn't anywhere near as dark as Estelle's.

"Did you just ask me out?" she asked him, even though she knew the answer would be yes.

"Yes, I did."

"I don't even know your name."

"I'm Teddy. Teddy Johnson."

"Estelle," she hesitated giving him her real last name." Estelle Carey," she gave him her mother's last name, since her mother had gotten married not long before that.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, do you want to go to a party with me and my friends next Friday? It'll be really fun," he was pleading with her now. It seemed like he was completely desperate to get a date for this party and she was his only choice. She thought it over for a little bit. She didn't have anything to do, Queenie was out of town for some art show, and Estelle knew that Holly and Zachy would be celebrating Holly's sister's birthday.

"Why not?" she said after a moment.

They discussed the details and parted ways for one week. Without knowing it, Estelle had made the worst mistake of her life.