Chocolate Chip Cookies And Pink Nails | Chapter Eight | Writing Corner

Well hello there! Thank you so much for clicking on my new story. If you’re completely lost please go read this blog — https://butterflyfingers.com/2018/08/21/new-story-summary-of-chocolate-chip-cookies-and-pink-nails-writing-corner/ —

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Chapter Eight: Perfectly Facing Fears

“Are you having a great time? Zack has been sending so many pictures! You look so amazing in all of the outfits! Oh, the video of you lip synching to Selena Gomez song Hands To Myself nearly gave your dad a heart attack!” Daddy Dearest chuckled and I could picture him shake his head with a massive grin on his face. “It’s been amazing! Zack has the craziest ideas and I can’t even guess what we’re going to do next.” The man of the hour simply rolled over to his side, a deep snore escaping his chest. His face smudged with last night’s makeup. We got home in the early hours of the morning and after his performance, the boy was practically famous with the girls. “He is such a lovely man! The captions about you on his pictures are so sweet. You should go read them. It can make any old girl swoon. You know if you two are dating, you can totally tell me, right?” My mouth dropped in surprise. Wait. What? “Hold up. What did you just say?” My mind reeled but Daddy Dearest didn’t hear my confused words and continued babbling on about how cute my dress from last night was and etc. 30 minutes later, I ended the call, still incredibly confused. Wait. What? What captions and what pictures? My curiosity got the best of me and I created an account on my laptop. What is his handle again? How do I find him? Minutes passed and I have yet to even find his account, I opted for opening his Instagram on his phone. 3000hearts and 800comments. Oh, holy shit. That’s insane. After tapping on all of the little icons, trying to find his profile, and possibly liking random pictures, I opened his feed. The little picture of him in his army clothes in the corner should’ve been a dead giveaway from the start. I gasped in shock.

The boy has been posting about our week away left and right with an average of three pictures per day. He had the messy hotel room and my greasy ass knocked out on the bed. I frowned. The boy still hasn’t deleted the picture of me sleeping in his arms, covered in greasy chicken nuggets and fries. I tapped on the photo and froze when I read the caption. “I could wake up like this every single day.” He meant covered in soggy fries and soaked with grease right? I exit the picture in haste. There is so many more. A picture of me trying on wigs for the Pastel Goth look, a full-on duck face in the mirror moment. I cringed. That’s ridiculously embarrassing. His caption read; “She’s beautiful without even trying.” The next picture was our selfie in the cabbie with the caption: “Those eyes can read me like a book.” Wait, is that a compliment? What the hell do these captions even mean? I continued to scroll through his feed, tapping on every picture and reading the caption. My mind reeling as the man of the hour continued to snore next to me.

A picture of me talking to Hannah at the bar. It must’ve been around the time she was throwing those pick up lines as I was all smiles and Hannah had me locked in. The caption read; “If only she would smile at me like that.” A picture of him painting my nails as I laughed at something he most likely said. His back faced the camera. Who on earth even took this picture and why didn’t I even notice it being taken? The caption read; “I would cross a dessert for this girl.” A picture of me in my pink prom dress, strutting my best pose for my Daddy Dearest. The caption read; “So utterly beautiful. She stole my breath away.” A picture of the two us dancing, he was raising me a little in his arms as I smiled down on him. He mirrors my bright smile with his own. The caption read; “If only the song would never end.” Who even took this picture? A picture of me sleeping between the rose with the caption; “Her beauty rivals that of the roses she lays in.” A picture of me performing the Hands to Myself song of Selena Gomez. I gasped. The wait is that how I looked while performing? Ouch. His caption read; “I can’t keep my hands to myself but I mean I could but why would I want to?” I chuckled at that one. The boy sure is clever. His latest picture only posted five hours ago, was of the two us in full drag. It was taken just after his performance. I was in his arms, bridal style, full of smiles. His caption read: “I tucking love you.” His phone dropped from my hands and I shook my head. No. he doesn’t mean that. Daddy Dearest words floated into my head: “You know if you two are dating, you can totally tell me, right?” We’re not dating, right? He loves me like a brother? He was only fooling around in the captions. Am I just reading them wrong? I glanced at the sleeping man and sighed. Nope. I pinched my temples, desperately fighting off a growing headache. Nope. Not going to deal with this now. I dropped back into the bed and closed my eyes. Yes. Let’s take a nap.

***

  “You’re out of your damn mind if you think for even one second that I will go up on that stage and sing.” Zack simply rolled his eyes and ignored my statement completely. “Come on! You full on gave the performance of a lifetime last night! What’s the difference?” It was my turn to roll my eyes and shake my head in pity and the poor delusional idiot. He doesn’t even know the difference between lip synching and singing for real. I pity the fool. Zack pulled me towards the direction of the stage, adamant about his mission. The goal? Get M to sing on open mike night. I stood my ground and dug my heels into the floor. Nope. Not happening, buddy. There is no way I’m going to sing in front of all of these people. Nope. In your dreams buddy. Zack turned and pouted, giving it his best puppy look. My resolve slowly melted. “Come on! I will sing it with you!” Zack continued to pout and reluctantly I agreed. Zack smiled brightly before pulling me towards the stage once more. I muttered under my breath the entire way. “What are we even going to sing?” “Perfect by Ed Sheeren.” I sighed slowly, forcing my lungs to exhale breath slowly before inhaling the same amount once more. “Fine, but if I  throw up it’s on you.” Ever since I’ve been a little girl, I suffered stage fright. Although considering last night you wouldn’t be able to tell. I hate being the center of attention. My heart starts to desperately try to escape my chest. I break out in a cold sweat and my entire body turns red. Ugly and quite obvious red rashes spread from my chest, up on my neck and turn my ears into glowing devices. My entire face turns red and my eyes start to water. My body shakes and my stomachs turns and finally, if the attention is too much, I end everything with a vomit and a faint. Zack knows this about me and yet here he is, sweet talking me into something that would spike an episode. “Just focus on me! Nothing else. There is no one in the room but us two okay.” Zack squeezed my hand and smiled. Slowly I nodded. There is no one in the room but us two. Just focus on Zack. Just focus only on him. Nothing else. No one else.

Zack handed me the mike with a reassuring smile before he nodded to the side. Seconds later the music started and my blood ran cold. Focus on Zack. Nothing else. No one else. It’s only us two. I always sing around Zack. “I found a  love for me. Darling just dive right in and follow my lead. Well, I found a girl beautiful and sweet.” I smiled as Zack sang. He wasn’t the best singer out there in the world but he could keep a tune. I simply just watched Zack as he read the words in front of him. His soft curly brown hairs, now overgrown, tickled his forehead as he worked the stage. “I never knew you were the someone waiting for me.” His deep sky blue eyes twinkled under the lights. “’Cause we were just kids when we fell in love.” My eyes roamed from his blue eyes, pausing at his long eyelashes before landing on his freckled and crooked nose. “Not knowing what it is. I will not give you up this time. But darling, just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own-” My eyes landed on his lips and my breath stalled in my throat. His bright dimpled smile could light up a room. “-But you heard it, darling, you look perfect tonight.” At this Zack turned to face me and nodded. It’s my turn now. I swallowed my fear and waited for my cue. “Well, I found a man, stronger than anyone I know. He share my dreams, I hope that someday I’ll share a home-” I lost myself in the sweet melody. My fears all forgotten. It’s just us in this room. I’m just singing in front of Zack like I always do. Together we ended the song, leaning into each other as we sang through my mike: “You look perfect tonight.” I smiled out of breath and paused. I could faintly hear the cheers from the crowd, but the only thing I could see is Zack beaming in joy. My focus only on Zack. Nothing else. No one else. It’s just us two.

*

You can find the next chapter here — https://butterflyfingers.com/2018/10/19/chocolate-chip-cookies-and-pink-nails-chapter-nine-writing-corner/ —