Fallout
Chapter Two
Belle Black was slowly
twirling the last of her french fries through the remaining ketchup on her
plate. Her brow was slightly
furrowed, and her lips were down turned, her eyes focusing on nothing but that
last fry. Her mind was elsewhere
though. She was still trying to
take in all that had happened tonight. For
the past half hour, she had been discussing and replaying the events of the Last
Blast over and over with Shawn. Hoping
they could find some solid evidence that what they suspected was true.
Deep down though, Belle wished it wasn't true.
She certainly knew that Brady had nothing to do with it, but she didn't
want Mimi to be the culprit either. Mimi
had made some mistakes before, the biggest of them hanging out with Jan Spears,
but Belle prayed that Mimi couldn't have done something so cruel and heartless.
Shawn tried to break her out
of her trance, "Hey! Earth to
Belle.... Whatcha thinkin'?"
"Hmmm?", she said
still staring at her plate.
"Belle . . . . What . .
. Are . . . You . . . Thinking?" He repeated louder and more slowly.
"Oh, Shawn.
I'm sorry. I just kinda
spaced there for a second."
"Well, what's up?"
"I just was thinking
that I hope it's not Mimi. I know
it has to be her and Jan, but I wish it wasn't. I just can't believe how much Mimi has changed.
Ever since Chloe came around."
She sighed deeply.
"I know, me too.
I wish it wasn't Mimi too. I
know she's not a bad person, she's just confused.
I guess we should have noticed things with Mimi had gotten this bad
sooner. I wish we had. I
didn't think it would ever go this far."
Belle nodded at Shawn, and
sighed again. Shawn threw her a
comforting smile, the one that always made her feel better, and placed his hand
on top of hers.
"Hey . . . Belle.
Come with me for a second."
Belle gave him a confused
look but grabbed onto his hand anyway, and followed him outside and around the
corner of the pub.
"Okaaaaaay, Shawn.
What are we doing out here?"
"Welllllll . . . I, uhh,
I feel really bad about tonight. "
"Why?
It's not your fault this happened, Shawn."
"I know.
It's not that. It's just
that, uhh, tonight was our first date. And,
I wanted it to be special, y'know. And,
it hasn't been. The dance was a
disaster. We ended up eating
cheeseburgers in front of my grandparents, and we haven't had one second alone
all night. I just wanted to spend
time with you, Belle. That's all.
So, I brought you out here where nobody could bug us.
Just you and me. Not my grandparents, or the other kids at school . . . Just
us."
Belle looked up at him and
smiled. The same smile that always
made Shawn melt a little inside. He
would never admit that he was such a romantic, but he couldn't help it
sometimes. Belle had those
beautiful sparkly blue eyes, and that great smile.
No matter how bad things were, he could always count on Belle Black to
smile at him.
"Thanks Shawn . . . And
no matter what, even through the bad stuff that happened tonight.
Being with you made it worthwhile. So,
don't feel bad. I'm glad you asked
me to the dance."
Belle flashed that smile
again, and leaned forward to place her head against Shawn's chest.
He pulled her in closer and wrapped his arms around her.
She was still wearing her Last Blast outfit, and the touch of her bare
skin against his hands felt exquisite to Shawn.
Soft, and warm. That's why
he called her his Perfect Girl.
Shawn's mother had always
told him to "Seize the moment, because it might not come again."
He knew this was the perfect moment for it, and he moved his hands up to
lift Belle's face up and look her in eyes.
He stared at her face, and took her beauty in for a moment before moving
towards her. Closer and closer,
until he could feel her warm breath on his face.
Shawn drew in a deep breath, only moments away from knowing what her lips
would feel like on his . . .
"BELLE! SHAWN! ARE YOU GUYS OUT HERE?!?!"