:Chapter 3: Faith and Inspiration:


{greg} "Paul demande a Philippe et a Isabelle s'il doit faire certains choses. Philippe dit oui et Isabelle dit non. Jouez la role de Philippe et d'Isabelle." Madame Paz lectured us in perfectly spoken French.

I stared through the transparent glass window of our classroom. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the blossoms were blooming. It was a beautiful day and I couldn't be any happier. I wish I could take a brief voyage to the beach, with the girl of my dreams, which was Bella Vitale. It had been exactly two weeks since we had been acquainted and had a pre-date at Starbucks Coffee. We had chatted on our phones for endless hours, over AIM (abbreviated for America Online Instant Messaging), and during our free periods. Bella was a true sweetheart, with a radiant caring heart, exquisite personality, curvaceous looks, and enchanting optimistic attitude towards life. I had never met an esthetic and astonishing person like her.

I missed Bella. I couldn't wait to French class to be over, because the period after this was lunch, which meant I could see and be with Bella! She had free period at this time, so that meant she was alone and lonely. A multifarious amount of wonders and thoughts swarmed through my brain; was she okay? Was she making a bundle of new friends? Was God protecting her from danger and teasing? I wish she were underneath my arms; I loved hugging her, especially detecting the scent of her silky beautiful hair.

- - - - - - - - - "GREG!" the voice of Bella's chanted my name, happily. I looked up from my opened Five Star notebook and French textbook. Gosh, she looked amazingly stunning. She was dressed in a white T-shirt, accompanied by the logo "Old Navy Pancake Place - 24 Hour Drive Thru Speedy Service" printed across the chest, jean Summer shorts, and the same brand sneakers she wore on the day our eyes first met. Her shining and sleek hair of hers was pulled up in a high ponytail, with a visor worn around her head. Bella seemed the preppy and sporty type, but that didn't matter between us. I didn't care about the way she dressed; all I wanted was to be with the girl of my chimeras.

"BELLA!" I imitated the tone of her voice. She smiled, cutely, and plotted herself next to me on the picnic bench. It was a gorgeous day, so I decided I would dine outside. All of my friends were with their girlfriends on the bleachers of the football field and my best "girl" friend, Jen Rostavio, was sitting with her usual crowd of friends.

She was a cool spunky kid, with total school spirit. She was, too, short, but not as tiny as adorable Bella. Jen was around the height of 5"2, accompanied by black shoulder length hair and golden brown eyes. She was funny, outgoing, sporty, and a real prep. She excelled at all sports, especially field hockey. She defined herself the "queen" of preps, because her entire wardrobe was almost filled with Tommy Hilfiger, but I loved her with all my heart as a best friend and "adopted" sister.

"So, what's up?" I asked Bella. She looked kind of pale and teary. What could be possibly wrong with perky and hyper Bella Vitale? I wanted to tell her those words, "you can tell me anything" but I didn't want to pressure her.

"Nothing much. You?" she asked, weakly. It sounded as if she had a horse in her throat. She looked like she had lost a few pounds. Poor baby. I began to worry and wonder about her. "Bells, are you okay?" I asked, curiously. She faced down towards her pure white chocolate colored carefully shaved legs. I don't know what had come over me, but I suddenly placed the inner of my hand against her warm, baby soft right cheek. Two strands of wet tears slowly rolled down her jowls. I knew something was definitely wrong.

She shook her head, upsettingly, and burst into a stage fit of drama. I snaked my arms around her and held her closely. It felt wonderful hugging her, but I hated to see her emotional and all teary. I detected the smell of her hair; L'Oreal Kids strawberry smoothie. I brushed my cheek against the tip of her head and continued to envelope her in a giant care bear hug.

"Oh, Greg, I'm so sorry to cry in front of you like this." Bella muffled, tiredly, into my chest. I didn't care if her tears got my shirt all wet and tangled. I wanted to make the girl of my dreams all better and smiling. She swaddled her arms around my waist and leaned closer towards me. She persisted crying, accompanied by a few sniffles and coughs.

"Shh. Its okay." I tried to soothe and calm her anxiety. "You know, you can tell me anything. I promise; it's just the two us." She let go of me, gently, and placed her delicate hands into mine. I squeezed them, tightly. I gazed deeply into her flawless dazzling eyes. "I'm listening, Bella."

"Well, last night, I was in a rush to hang up when we were talking on the phone, because my mother was extremely sick. Dad and I had to take her to the hospital, immediately. Mom could barely walk or do anything by herself. She was transferred quickly to the emergency room and I was so scared. After about a few hours later, the doctors came and told us a massive swarm of bacteria had spread throughout her body, causing to weaken her heart. Mom's being treated with the best care and the doctors say with the right medical antibiotics, she should be by home in six to eight weeks, but I have this bad feeling that she's not going to survive." Bella explained, sorrowfully. "Oh, Greg, I'm not ready for my Mom to die. I don't want her to leave me." I even had strands of tears strolling down my tanned cheeks. She was so brave and strong. I don't know what I'd do without my mother.

"She's going to make it, I promise." I spoke, untruthfully. I wasn't God or a psychic, but I didn't know what else to say to comfort her. She was hurt and in pain. "Your mother loves you too much. She would never, ever, leave a wonderful daughter like you. You're very special and the best child in the world that any parent could be blessed with." I truthfully staved.

"Really? You think so?" she asked. I nodded my head and she wiped her tears. "Greg, you're so understanding and wonderful. I've never met an extraordinary boy like you." Bella cleared her throat.

"No, no. It's all the opposite. You're the extraordinary one, here. You're so brave and courageous. I've never met astounding girl like you." I informed, with a smile.

She chuckled. "You're such a drama king, Greg!" she giggled.

"Hey, don't tease me! I'm a guy and I have feelings, too!" I laughed.

It was good to see us tittering, again. She took out a bad of cheese Doritos from her Gap Kids brand backpack and handed it to me. Aw, she had remembered that Doritos was my favorite snack! She was too thoughtful and sweet.

"I thought you'd want to munch on them, because I know they're your favorite snack." Bella adorably opened the bag for me. "Here you go, sweetie."

"Thank you, Mommy." I teased, playfully. We laughed and I bit into a Doritos. For the remaining twenty minutes of lunch, we chatted about our favorite movies and families. I understood she was going through a painful and troublesome time, but I tried to show the bright side of it.

- - - - - - - - -

"No, kidding! The Matrix is my favorite movie, too!" I chanted, happily.

"Dude, no way! It's so neat because of all the cool special effects and stuff!" she laughed. This girl was unbelievable and startling. We had so much in common. It was like as if she was my clone, except she was a girl and had different body parts than I.

"I bet I can name your favorite cereals!" she giggled, adorably.

"Oh, yeah? Go for it, girl!" I mocked, jokingly.

"Corn Pops, Frosted Flakes, Fruity Pebbles, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch!" she guessed, correctly. Whoa, she was like one of my biggest fans or something. This was freaky, but interesting. Maybe she could read minds, like Madame Cleo.

"How did you know?" I asked, accompanied by a surprising look.

"I just picked two of my favorite cereals and as for the remaining others, they were my sister's favorites!" she chuckled and I laughed. I wanted to ask her out on a date, desperately and badly, but I didn't know how. Suddenly, I became super shy and quiet. There was a moment of awkward silence, which gave me the perfect opportunity to gather up the courage to ask Bella out, but it was too late. A miracle had happened.

"Hey, Greg, I was wondering something." Bella spoke up, shyly.

"Don't be shy, Cinderella. Speak up." I flirtatiously clarified.

"Cinderella? Why did you just call me that?" she chuckled, confused.

"Because you're just like her. Beautiful and gorgeous." I smiled. WHOA! I couldn't believe those words had just come out of my mouth! Maybe I was getting the hang of this entire "flirting" stage.

"Would you like to go out sometime?" she randomly asked.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" I smirked, ecstatically.

"Umm…yeah." Bella confessed, embarrassedly. Her face was turning riper than a cherry tomato by the second.

"I'd love to go out on a date with you." I patted her hand, softly.

"Really? You would?" she squealed with delight and joy.

I chuckled at her remark and nodded my head. The bell disrupted our moment of happiness and we both let out fatigue sighs. All of the students began to rise up from their current positions and head towards their lockers. I didn't want to go to class; I wanted to be with Bella.

"So, where would you like to go on our first date?" I asked, nervously.

"Anywhere. It really doesn't matter to me, because you know why? We click instantly and are so compatible, that scenery isn't so important."

She was amazing and terrific. I felt like dancing and throwing my hands up in the air. I wanted to dedicate one of my new songs named We're in Love to her. She was brave, tough, courageous, vicious, and incorrigible. She was handling the hospitalization of her mother so well. If I was in her position, I would be devastated and crying all the time. I probably wouldn't have the strength and dignity to come to school, but Bella was an inspiration and role model for me.

I couldn't believe it. I, Gregory Frank Raposo, had a date with the most elegant and ravishing girl throughout the entire universe. </td> <td colspan=1 height=146></td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>