Written in the Stars (12 page)

The next couple of weeks, I spent the majority of my mornings
combing the beach with Geoff. It only took a few days of having to restrain myself from falling into star struck psycho mode, and more moments than I liked to admit of actually pinching myself when he wasn’t looking before I felt like he was finally getting to know the real me, or at least the parts of me I wanted him to know.

It wasn’t until almost three weeks later that I stopped looking at him through a fan’s eyes, and saw him as just Geoff. A guy who no longer knew what he wanted in life, and was questioning the road he was currently on. Of course, after getting to know the real him, I found myself falling for
him even more and my heart on the line with no control.

It took another week for me to feel like we were finally close enough as friends that I could ask him the one question I’d been dying to ask since I first saw him. Okay, maybe not the first, but I didn’t think he would take to me asking him to marry me as well as this one.

“Do you mind if I ask you a question that may or may not make me sound like a crazy fan?” I asked while we combed the beach.

“To be honest, I’m surprised you haven’t already.” 

“You do know that I’m not actually a crazy fan right?” I asked him.

“I do now.” He smiled. “So, what’s the question you’ve been longing to ask me?”

“Why did you quit music?”

“Ah, I should have known. The million-dollar question everyone is dying to know.” He picked up a rock and threw it into the ocean. “I didn’t quit music. I just quit being a puppet.”

“Music made you a puppet?”

“It wasn’t
technically music. It was the people that I sang the music for. I guess after being told more than once that my music wasn’t good enough to record, I started to believe it, so I turned into a puppet and only sang what I was told to. It didn’t take long for me to realize I was only seen as a dollar sign, and not an artist, so I walked away and went into acting, where it didn’t matter.”

“Do you miss music?”

“Every day,” he replied.

“Then go back to it.”

“I wish it were that easy.”

“Maybe it is. Have you
ever tried going back?” I asked.

“Once.”

“That was how long ago?” I looked at him. “Geoff, you can do anything you want to do. If you want to write and sing your own music, then do it. No one has the right to stand in the way of your dreams, or tell you’re not good enough. If it were me, I’d do it just to prove them wrong.” The bemused look on his face made me feel like I might have crossed the line. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“No, don’t worry, you didn’t.” He smiled. “You’re right. This is my life, and I should be living it the way I want to. That’s why I started writing again.”

“That’s great. You know, your voice got me through some very lonely nights,” I sputtered out without giving any thoughts of how I sounded, which by the way he raised his eyebrows at me must have been extremely crazy. “What I meant, is that you have an amazing singing voice.”

“Thank you.” He smiled.

“Do you realize we’re almost halfway through the summer already?” I felt the need to change the subject.

“Yeah, I do.” He sighed.

“Just a few more weeks, and I’ll be heading back to the reality of college.”

“College is reality?”

“Anywhere but with you is reality.” I smiled.

“I’m probably the most reality you’ll ever have in your life.” 

“That’s a scary thought.”

“It may be, but you know it’s true.” He smiled.

“Great, my dream has become my reality.” 

“I’m your dream?” He looked at me.

“What?”

“You said your dream
has become your reality, so in a way I’m your dream,” he reiterated for me.

My heart sped up as I tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t give him any indication that I was head over heels in love with him for the second time in my life.

“You’re Geoff Mann; you’re every girl’s dream.”

“There’s only one problem with that.” He kept his eyes locked on mine as he grabbed both of my hands, and pulled me closer to him. “I don’t want to be your dream. I want to be your reality.”

Okay, that was perfect, a little too perfect.

“I have to go.” I pulled away from him, and took a few steps back.

“Now?”

“Yes, I co
mpletely forgot that I told Nonna I would help her in the garden.”

“You can’t give me a few more minutes?” He looked disappointed.

“I wish I could, but I’m already late.”

“Do you want a ride?” he hollered to me.

“Nope, walking is good.”

“Sophie!” he yelled.

“I’ll see you in the morning.” I started jogging.

This couldn’t be happening. There was no way that he was in love with me; he couldn’t be. Love was not an o
ption here. I laughed at the thought. Geoff Mann falls for Sophie Watters; yeah, right. But just in case, I’d have to keep my distance.

* * * * *

Nonna was already in the garden when I got home. I hid behind a tree and watched as she carefully cut some roses before placing them in the basket next to her. I closed my eyes and pictured my mom kneeling and pulling weeds with her the way she used to. I tried helping when I was little, but I always figured gardening was their special thing, not mine. Especially since my thumb was far from green. I have killed more plants than I like to admit, but I decided to try again since this would be my way of giving her back my mom.

“
Boungiorno
, Nonna.” I joined her. “
Posso aiutare
?”

“
Si
.” She smiled and handed me a pair of gloves.

Mother Nature had given us the perfect setting for
gardening. So perfect, that we spent the remainder of the day doing it. I could see why my mom loved helping her in the garden. She made it fun and somewhat interesting to learn. After hours of talking about the years we missed, she started humming the same tune my mom used to sing to me when I was very little, and even though my heart was breaking, I sang along. When she heard the words quietly coming from my mouth, she looked at me with tears in her eyes, smiled, and started singing with me.

Shortly after,
Nonna went inside to start dinner, and I stuck behind to clean up. The field caught my eye as I was putting away the gardening tools, and I realized I still hadn’t been there. I locked the shed and walked to the middle of the field.

Wait for me, Mommy
. I had a flashback when I heard a little girl’s voice dancing in the wind, and I before I knew it, I was there watching myself running into the field after my mom. I could almost feel her hands on my waist as she picked me up and spun me around, both of us laughing. “
Look at me; I’m flying like the fairies,”
I would say.

“
Just like the fairies, mi amore,”
my mom would reply with a smile.

“Sophia.”
The scene disappeared when Nonna called for me.

“
Arrivo
, Nonna.”

I made sure that I got to the beach before Geoff did the next morning. Not because I wanted to watch him jump, but because I was hoping if I could be alone with no
thing but the sound of nature, then maybe I would be able to come up with a somewhat believable lie of why I couldn’t see him anymore. So far, I had come up with me having to go home early, Erin hating me because I’m not with her, or pretending to be sick for the rest of the summer.

“Hey, stranger.” Geoff startled me.

“Hey, you’re here early.”

“I could say the same about you.” He sat next to me. “Did you come to watch me jump?”

“No, sorry that’s never going to happen.” I smiled at him.

“Then what brings you here so early?”

“I needed the fresh air.”

I could tell by the look in his eyes that he didn’t believe me, so lying any further was out of the question.

“Are you okay?” He looked concerned.

“I’m great.”

“Okay, well, then if you don’t want to watch me jump, you might want to change sceneries.” He stood up and removed his shirt.

Nope, this one’s good
. I gazed up at him.

“You’re not moving, so does that mean you’re going to watch?”

“No, I’m not going to watch you undress.” He chuckled at my reply. “I meant, watch me jump. What I meant to say is that I’m not going to watch you jump, or undress. I’m not going to watch you at all.” I stammered. “I’ll just be over there.” I walked towards the bottom of the cliffs.

“See you soon,” he said with a huge grin.

I found the perfect spot facing in the opposite direction of Geoff, and propped myself up against the nearest rock.

“I wish I was mute.” I shoved my headphones in and turned up the volume, hoping it would block out the verbal spanking I was giving myself. There was no way I could pretend not to be interested in him. I was just going to have to tell him the truth. Minus the part of me being insanely in love with him, a
nd only the part that I’m not ready for him to be a part of my life.

I was in the middle of the third song of his last CD when I felt my hair being ruffled. I looked up and smiled when I saw Geoff smiling down at me.

“I’m alive and dressed, so you can watch now,” he said when I took out my headphones.

“I’m glad that your crazy stunt didn’t kill you.” I tried to sound uninterested.

“Yeah, well, there’s always tomorrow.”

“You’re sick.” I rolled my eyes.

“And you’re seriously just realizing this?” He smiled.

“No, I’ve known for a while. I just didn’t want to say anything.”

“You’re almost as funny as me.” He elbowed me. “What are you listening to?” He grabbed my IPod.

“Just music.” I reached for it, but he had already turned it on.

“My music.” He smiled.

“They’re the only songs I have downloaded.” I tried to grab it from him.

“You have at least a thousand songs in here.” He scrolled through my IPod.

“Okay fine, I was listening to you.” I yanked it from his hands. “I’m not the only person who still listens to your music. It’s not like I’m infatuated with you or anything.”

“Are you sure about that?” he teased me.

“Positive.” I glared at him.

“Ah, now see, if I didn’t know you better, I would think you were trying to provoke me.”

“Why would I want to do that?”

“I don’t know.” He looked at me.

“Well, I’m not,” I lied.

“Good.” He grabbed my hand. “I want to show you something.”

If there was ever an out moment, that was it, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t lie, or hurt him with the truth, so I guess I was just going to have to find a way to hold on a little tighter to what was left of me.

“I found this after I jumped.” He pointed to a small starfish that sat between two rocks.

“I can’t believe you actually found something.” I ran my fingers over the back of the starfish.

“There’s a first for everything, I guess.”

“Too bad this is a private beach; otherwise we could take it with us,” I said.

“If you want it, I’ll take it for you.”

“That’s okay. I don’t think people would like me if I got you locked up.”

“It’s my beach. I can take whatever I want from it.”

“This is your beach?” I looked up at him.

“Technically, it belongs to my family, but yeah, it’s mine.”

“I should have known, since my mom said she knew the owners.”

“This beach has been my hiding place since I was little.” He looked around.

“It’s not a very good hiding place, considering I found you.”

“I wasn’t hiding from you.”

“Well, good, because then you would be just as horrible at hiding as you are at jogging.” I teased him, hoping it would lead down a p
ath where breathing wasn’t an issue.

“That was mean.” He glared at me.

“Like I’ve said before, the truth hurts.” I said with a vicious smirk.

A smirk, which
was quickly wiped away when he picked me up and threw me into the ocean, all before I could blink.

“Are you insane?” I yelled when I was finally able to grasp what had happened. “This water is actually real
ly cold for being summer.”

“I know. I felt it this morning. I told you it can wake you up.” 

“You’re going to pay for that.” I lunged at him. All I could think about was jumping on him and taking him down. What I didn’t think about was how much stronger he was and that I would be the one once again thrown into the water and not him.

“Yep, that’s really cold.” I shivered as I walked past him.

“Would you like to try again?” He laughed.

“Nope, I’m good.” I wrapped my arms around myself for warmth.

“Let me help you warm up.” He grabbed a towel from his bag, and wrapped it and his arms around me.

“You know what, I’m already warm.” I pulled away from him.

“You’re still shivering.” He eyed me.

“Only because I’m still in shock from you throwing me into the ocean,” I snapped.

“Just let me help you get warm so you don’t catch pneumonia.”

“No, really, I’m good.” I backed away from him. If only I was the kind of girl that could let something like this go, I would have, but I wasn’t, so it was my turn to get him wet. “My ring is gone.” I looked down at my hand.

“Were you wearing a ring?” He looked at my hand.

“Yes, the one that my mom gave me.” I lied. I knew bringing my mom into this was low, but I had to make him believe me one way or another. “I must have dropped in the water.” I waded back in.

“Sophie, if you dropped it in the water, we’ll never find it.” Like a fool, he followed me.

“I have to try.” I started searching.

“Where did you walk out at?” He helped me.

“Right over here.” I pretend
ed to trip over something and fell into an oncoming wave.

“Are you okay?” He rushed to my side to help me up. As soon as I felt I had a strong grip on his hand, I pulled as hard as I could and watched as he flew head first into the water next to me.

“I am now.” I started laughing. “I should become an actor.”

“Yeah, well, you might want to start running before you do.” I could tell by the evil grin on his face that he wasn’t joking, and I jumped up as quickly as I could and started running across the beach.

I was shocked when I looked back and saw that he was only a few steps behind me, and even more shocked when he grabbed my wrist before I could pick up my speed.

“I’m sorry!” I struggled when he tossed
me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“You brought this on yourself.”

“No I didn’t, you did,” I said. “Please don’t throw me in again,” I pleaded when I saw water under his feet.

“
I won’t, but only on one condition.” He stopped.

“Anything.”

“You jump with me tomorrow morning.”

“No way, throw me in,” I said.

“Then have dinner with me.”

“We’re seriously not having this conversation again.”

“Yes, we are.” His grip on my legs loosened.

“Fine, but not in public,” I gave in.

“Where then?”

“Here on the beach.”

“We already did that,” he said.

“Then you pick the place.”

“At your Nonna’s house, next Friday.”

“That’s the night my whole family will be there,” I said.

“I know.”

“I would be digging my own grave.”

“Don’t worry; I’ll fill it up before you get tossed in,” he said.

“Geoff, you don’t understand. Erin will do everything in her po
wer to embarrass me, and there are something’s you just don’t need to know.”

“I’m sure you can handle it. Now, do we have a deal or is it the water for you.” It took me a few seconds to contemplate it. “Sophie?”
he moved me forward.

“Fine, dinner, at
Nonna’s, next Friday.” I sighed, and he put me down.

“I knew you would see things my way.” He smirked.

“Why do you feel the need to torment me?”

“I guess it’s because I kind of have a thing for you,” he said as he wrapped a towel around me. I’m sure anyone within a mile of me could hear my heart beat as he slowly brought his lips closer to mine.

“Please don’t,” I whispered when he was less than an inch away.

“Sophie, where are you?” Erin’s voice saved me.

“I’m over here.” Geoff looked annoyed when I yelled back to Erin.

“There you are.” She walked up to us. “I’m not interrupting something, am I?”

“Yes, you are,” Geoff answered before I could.

“No, you’re not. I was just about to head home.” I couldn’t bear to look at the disappointment in his eyes as I walked away from him.

“Oh, good, because we have some shopping to do.” Erin grabbed my hand. “You don’t mind if I steal her, do you?” She looked back at Geoff.

“Would it matter if I did?” He sounded irritated.

“Not really.” Erin smiled and pulled me away. “You can have her back tomorrow.”

I didn’t dare look back at Geoff. The tone of his voice was enough for me to know that he hated Erin at the moment, and maybe even a little more than I loved her.

“What was all that about and why are you wet?” Erin asked once we were in the car.

“Geoff threw me in the water.”

“Aw, that’s so romantic.” She smiled. “Did he kiss you?”

“No, Erin, he didn’t.” I glared at her. “I already told you it’s not like that with us, and it never will be.”

“Does he know that, because from where I was standing, I don’t think he got that memo?”

“He will, because I’m not about to be some celebrity’s mission to feel normal.”

“I seriously doubt that what he sees when he looks at you.” She rolled her eyes.

“How would you know?”

“Because I’m not blind, and he looks at you the same way Mario looks at me. Like a fool in love.” She sighed.

“Yes, and I would believe that about Ma
rio because he’s not a celebrity.”

“He is in my world.” She smiled. “Sophie, it won’t kill you to let love in.”

Yes, it will,
I thought as I put my headphones in and stared out the window, ending the conversation.