Be Free, Be You

I was on cloud nine, barely able to contain myself from jumping up and down with excitement. They’d loved the performance, and I still felt that high that celebrities always talk about, even though the voice hadn’t been coming from my mouth.

Val noticed, and when we got to the parking lot, she ordered, “Steph, please try to contain yourself.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled, trying to fight the heat that was building in my face. “It’s just…I’m so excited that I finally get to be a part of something. Just like you’re in the Cheerios.”

“I know. And I’m happy for you. But if you keep bouncing up and down, you’re going to give me motion sickness.”

I climbed into her car and worked on keeping my excitement to a minimum. But despite her trying to calm me down, everything looked just as perfect as before. I found it so beautiful that, when someone was in a good mood, everything looked so much bolder, so much prettier. The whole world seemed to be perfect, simply without flaw.

And I couldn’t wait to get home, do my homework, and write some of my novel. It was just that kind of day, when absolutely nothing could go wrong.

When we walked through the front door of the house, Valarie escaped into her room right away, while I dawdled in the kitchen, plucking a water bottle out of the fridge and walking around to see what Mom took out for dinner.

Finally, once I was in my room, I went on my laptop, checking Facebook before I started working on my writing.

And that was when I squealed at a volume that even One Direction fans couldn’t match.

“What’s going on?!” Valarie exclaimed with a worried tone as she threw open my bedroom door. “Are you okay?!”

“Val,” I sighed, turning to face her, trying to keep the grin on my face from reaching goofy levels, “Noah Puckerman friend requested me on Facebook. Friend requested me!”

Val let out a long sigh and shook her head. “Steph…” She looked like she was going to tell me that it wasn’t a big deal, that I should calm the hell down, but instead, she just went back into the hallway, closing my door behind her softly.

I didn’t care, though. She didn’t bring down my mood. Everything was falling into place perfectly. I bit my lip to keep myself from squealing again as I pressed ACCEPT.

Almost immediately, he sent me a message. Thanks for excepting my friend request

Normally, I would have corrected him to let him know he used the wrong verb, but I didn’t even care. Oh, it’s no problem. Thanks for requesting me. :D

Well, I have to be Facebook friend with my tutor rite? u free tmrw after glee? we could work on more math stuff

Yeah, I’m free. Sounds good. Meet in the library?

Definately. so how are u?

And that was how I spent my night conversing with Noah Puckerman, all the way until three thirty in the morning.

* * *

The next morning, I was so tired that I felt like I could keel over at any second. But I couldn’t dare miss school, since I had a study session with Puck after Glee Club.

“Wow,” Val commented when I stumbled into the kitchen looking for a water bottle to swallow some aspirin for my pounding headache, induced by a lack of sleep. “What time did you go to sleep last night?”

I told her, and she let out a low whistle. “Nice job, baby sis. I hope you don’t mess up in Glee Club because you’re sloppy.”

I felt a blush creep through my face as I sat down at the table, coffee in hand. “I’ll wake up,” I assured her. “It’ll just take a bit.”

Val shook her head. “Better drink that fast. We’re leaving in a minute.”

I gulped the scalding liquid, not even bothering to wince when the heat settled in the pit of my stomach. Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I stood up and set the mug in the sink. “Okay, I’m good to go.”

She sighed. “You’re disgusting,” she commented, referring to my method of wiping my mouth clean with my hand instead of a napkin. “Don’t you know manners?”

I shrugged, not having the energy yet to answer her. I wanted the caffeine to jumpstart my system immediately, but it was going to take some time to work.

In the car, Valarie sighed before saying, “You have Glee Club again today, right?”

“Yeah,” I answered.

“Do you know if I have to go? Because I have Cheerios practice.”

“I don’t know,” I responded, starting to feel a bit nervous.

She rolled her eyes and stopped talking. She was clearly irritated that she might have to miss her passion in order to fuel mine.

I had no idea how long this charade could keep up.