"Where do you go when you've gone you far...you open up your arms. I wanna believe that love has the heart to take me home...take me back hooome..." I sang along with my radio while getting ready for class
That song 'Take Me Back Home' was always in my head. It was catchy and I found mysef liking it even though I couldn't stand the guy who sang it. Greg Raposo was so annoying! I feltt I had the right to say it seeing as how I went to school with him. He sat near me in my English 120 class. Him and his stupid entourage were always being obnoxious. Geez, the fact that he even had an entourage was obnoxious! He was only a second rate kiddie pop star, I didn't see what was so special about him.
I finished getting ready and headed off to my English class. It seemed that every time I would get ready for that class, that song would play on Radio Disney. It was pretty creepy really. I grabbed my bag and left the room. As I was stopping at the snack machines for my usual in class snack, I passed Greg and his team of punks. God did they irritate me! I got my coffee and a Snickers bar and walked toward the classroom. As I was turning the corner, something flew up and hit me! Once i relaxed I noticed it was an arm belonging to...Greg of course.
"God Raposo, whatch where you fling your arm! I almost spilled my coffee!" I exclaimed
"Cheyenne? Oh shit, I'm sorry!" he replied
"Yeah whatever. Can you people not block the intersection? Some of us have classes to go to." I replied snottily
He stepped aside so I could get to class. I ended up standing near the door with a few friends and overheard Greg's friends talking about me.
"Cheyenne is a bitch. I don't know why you're so nice ot her man." one said
"Nah man, she's cool. You just gotta know how to deal with her." Greg said
"Why would you want to? It's obvious she doesn't like you." another replied
"Exactly. She's nothing but the Ice Queen." another said
"And I'm just the person to melt her." Greg replied walking away
He came walking in the direction of me and my friends. When he passes me, I just glared at him. I think he winked at me...ew. How dare he think I'm an Ice Queen?! I"m nice to everyone but him and his friends, so there! Stupid Long Island punk. And what about that melting me comment? As if I'd ever let him date me! Maybe if someone dropped me on my head and then forced heavy amounts of drugs down my throat...maybe.
Class was about to start so me and my friends entered the room. The only empty seats were next to Greg. I shot a pleading look at my friend Tay but she shook her head in disgust. I had to sit next to him...ew. I sat down and tried to ignore him. Before I got settled, my professor Wendy called me to her desk.
"What's up Wendy?" I asked
"Well, you know how I asked you if you wanted to help other people if they were having trouble with their papers?" she reminded
"Yup, I do." I replied
"Well, I need your services." she said
"Okay. Who is it?" I asked
"Greg Raposo." she replied
I froze. No way! No way in Hell was I going to help Greg Raposo with his paper. I couldn't! But I needed the money. I swallowed and put on a fake smile.
"Sure Wendy, no problem." I said
"Great! Let me just talk to him and then we can start class." she said
I smiled weakly and walked back to my seat. When I sat down, Tay looked worried.
"What's wrong?" she asked
"I have to...help...Greg Raposo...write his paper." I replied
She stared wide eyed "Are you serious?"
"Do I look like I'm joking?" I asked
"Well no. But why you?" she wondered
"It's part of my work study." I explained
"It'll be okay girl. Just hang in there." she said, patting my arm
I again smiled weakly and looked next to me to see Greg smiling at me smugly. I turned back quickly and paid all my attention to the lesson. After class Tay and I rushed into the bathroom to avoid Greg. It didn't work though because when we came out, he was standing there. I cursed under my breath.
"Cheyenne, can I talk to you?" he asked
I sighed "What is it?"
"Wendy told me you agreed to help me with my paper." he said
"I did." I replied
"You must really need the money." he said
"That's the only reason I'd agree to help you." I spat
"Well thanks. When are you free to go over it?" he asked
"Thursday after class." I replied
"Okay, anything in particular I need to bring?" he questioned
"Your last draft of the paper with Wendy's comments." I replied
"Okay. I'll see you in class Thursday." he said
"Yeah, can't wait." I said sarcastically
He smiled and wlaked away. God he infuriated me! I didn't get why the bastard was so nice to me. I could have been a bitch to him no matter what and he'd still be nice to me. I never got why though. Mayve it was reverse psychology. Only that never worked. I was still mean to him regardless of how nice he was to me. It was really weird you asked me.
Tay and I walked back to our room and prepared for dinner. We went to the cafeteria and sat with a few of our friends.
"So, what's up?" my friend Bailey asked
"I had a horrible day today." I replied
"Aw, what happened?" she questioned
"I have to help Greg Raposo write his paper and I hate him." I whined
"Greg Raposo? He's hot! Why do you hate him?" my friend Carmen asked
"He's annoying!" I cried
"Cheyenne, I think you're overreacting." Tay said
"If you think so, then why wouldn'y you sit near him in English?" I asked
"Because I can't stand him." Tay replied
"So, it's okay for you not to like him bt it's not okay for me?" I questioned
"Only because you have to work with him and it's not healthy to hate people when you have to work with them." she said
"Whatever Tay. That makes no sense." I replied
"Sweetie, I'm sure you'll be fine." Bailey said
"I hope so." I pouted
"And think of it this way, if it doesn't, you're still doing great in the class." Bailey reminded
"Yeah I know. Thanks hun." I replied
I just didn't want to help Greg. He annoyed me a lot. I didn't even know why I hated him so much. When he was in Dreamstreet, he was my second favorite. But then again, my options were limited. Chris Trousdale scared me. Then of course I thought he was a hottie when he came out as a solo artist. My friend Cindee quickly changed my mind. Oh wells. Then I met him and I really hated him. He irked my nerves. Seriously, he did. Half the time I wanted to slap him. He was so cocky and self centered and I hated that more than anything else. It drove me crazy! Blah.
The next thing I knew, it was Thursday. Of course before I left for class I heard 'Take Me Back Home'. I just grabbed my bag and left for class. I managed to avoid Greg and his cronie before class and prayed that he had forgotten about our tutoring sessions. I could have never been that lucky. He strode into the classroom and his dismay there were no seats next to me in the circle. I had made my friends sit on either side of me. I smiled smugly and Greg jus shrugged.
After class, Tay hugged me and wished me luck. Greg walked over to my seat.
"Ready Cheyenne?" he asked
"As ready as I'll ever be." I replied, standing up
He led me out and held the door open for me. I walked through, not thanking him.
"You know Cheyenne, I don't want to do this either." he confessed
"So then why are you?" I asked
"Because I need to pass this class." he replied
"Why can't you just pay someone to write your papers for you?" I asked
"Because my mom would flip." he said
"Whatever. Let's just get this over with." I replied
We walked to the library silently. We passed a few of Greg's friends. They stopped to chat and I just rolled my eyes and checked my watch.
"Sorry about that." he apologized
"Whatever. No big deal." I said
When we got to the library, I saw Bailey and Heather. They waved and I waved back. Greg found us an empty table in a secluded are.
"Why are we in nowheresville?" I asked
"I can't concentrate in noisy areas." he said
"It's a library. No one's being noisy." I said
"Whatever." he mocked
"Did you just mock me?" I asked
"Maybe." he said
"Asshole." I spat
"Believe what you must." he replied
I groaned and we started to work. I picked his paper apart word by word. At tie he looked really frustrated and at other times genuinely understanding of what I said. Before I knew it two hours had gone by.
"Are you hungry?" he asked
"Not really." I lied
"You have to be." he argued
"I'm not!" I exclaimed
"Come on..." he pleaded
"Okay, I give up. I'm starving." I replied
"That's better. Wanna grab some dinner? My treat." he asked
"As if I'd ever be seen in public with you Raposo." I replied
"Oh come on. We can find plenty of secluded places to eat you don't want to be seen with me." he said
"If I go will you shut up?" I asked
"Yes." he replied
"Okay." I agreed
He smmiled. I figured spending another hour with him couldn't be that bad. Being with him one-on-one wasn't that bad. I wasn't sure about doing it on a regular basis but once in awhile wasn't bad. We got food and walked outside. We found a nce tree to sit under.
"You know if anyone sees us, they'll think we're on a date." I said
"I doubt it." he replied
"Yeah. There's no way you could melt the Ice Queen." I said
"Ice Queen?" he asked
"Yes. I know that is what your punky friends call me." I said
"Well yeah. But you give them no reason to like you." he said honestly
"They give me no reason to like them either." I said
"True. But why don't you like me?" he asked
"I don't know. Wait, I lied. I don't like your cocky, Mr. Macho attitude. It disgusts me." I replied
"Wow, is that really how people look at me?" he asked
"Not reall. You have a pretty large following of skanks around here. It's a Cheyenne thing." I replied
"Well, maybe if you got to know me, you wouldn't think the things you do." he said
"Maybe." I said
Okay so, I wasn't quite sure od what was going on but I was sure I didn't like it. I thought Greg was hitting on me and that was freaking me out. I kept telling myself that he was a jerk and I hated him. But he wasn't actually a bad guy which made things hard. After we finished eating, he walked me back to my dorm and we set up another tutoring session for over the weekend.
I went into my rooma nd layed in bed, confused. Thoughts of Greg filled my mind. He was really cute when he smiled and he was funny and it was making me sick.
Tay came in a little while later and found me in my depressed state.
"Dude, what's wrong?" she asked
"Nothing." I replied
"Yeah right. Talk to me." she pleaded
"It's Greg." I confessed
"Was it that bad?" she asked
"No. It was fun." I cried
"So then what's wrong?" she asked
"I had fun with Greg Raposo!" I exclaimed
"And you hate him so now you're scared." she said
"Exactly! It makes me nervous." I said
It really did make me nervous. I was afraid that I'd end up liking Greg. That scared me more than anything else did. I would look like such a hypocrite and I hated that.
"Well, maybe he's not that bad and you should give him a chance." she said
"Are you serious?" I asked
"Yeah. What's the worst that could happen?" she asked
"I could fall in love with him, that's the worst that could happen." I replied
"I don't think that's the worst thing that could happen." she said
"Well I do!" I exclaimed
"You have problems." she said
"Do not." I argued
"Right." she teased
Okay so maybe I was a little paranoid. But who could blame me? I had a lot to be worried about. Saturday came and that meant another tutoring session with Greg. I was so scared. The day before Greg had invited me to watch him rehearse with his band after our session. I agreed only because Carmen had forced me to. She pinched hard. So I sucked it up and met him at the library again. We had a good tutoring session.
"Your paper is a lot better." I said
"Really? You think so?" he asked
"Would I lie?" I questioned
"No." he replied
"Then yes it's better." I said
We finished up and then left for the band practice. Greg explained to me that he was doing a concert in a few days and needed an honet opinion on the set. I was pretty surprised he asked me. I knew his songs because of Carmen's demand for me to listen to his cd before I went. His stuff wasn't that bad but I didn't want to admit it. He drove to where we were going to meet the others. I braced myself to deal with a bunch of guys like Greg. We went in and the guys were already warming up. Greg introduced me to them and I wa surprised that they weren't punks.
I sat down and the guys discussed what songs to do. They started with 'Take Me Back Home' and did other from his album as well as a few new songs. I was really having a great time. Greg was a great performer no matter how much I was trying not to like him. Before they did they last song, Greg told me to really listen to the song because they were trying something new with it.
I just sat there listening to what Greg was singing. To me, the words he was singing weren't just song lyrics, they were a message to me. Was he realizing my feelings toward him were changing?
I thought he was giving me some sort of ultimatium. Like if I kept being a bitch to him, he was going to give up and be done with me. Did I really want that? I mean, sure Greg was a pest, but he was my pest.
There it was. He was waiting for me to tell him how I felt about him. I wasn't quite sure how I felt though. I mean, I was pretty sure I liked him in more that a platonic sense. It was obvious that he knew hoe he felt. I honestly didn't know what to say.
Luckily for me, Greg waited until we were in the car on our way back to school o bring it up.
"Cheyenne?" he asked
"Hmm?" I questioned
"You're being awfully quiet." he said
"I'm just thinking." I replied
"About?" he asked
"The song." I said
"What about it?" he wondered
"You were singing it to me weren't you?" I asked
"Yeah." he confessed
"How long have you liked me?" I asked
"Since I first saw you. I loved the fact that you were so tough. you treated me like everyone else." he said
"Actually I was meaner to you because you're famous. I don't know why so don't ask me that." I said
"It's cool. What made you decide to give me a chance?" he asked
"My friends forced me to." I said honestly
"Seriously?" he asked
"Seriously. Carmen's totally in love with you so you see her reasoning, Bailey's the voice of reason and Tay needed to just bug me." I said
"Wow. Remind me to thank your friends." he said
"Shut up." I replied smiling
We passed a pizzeria. Neither of us had eaten so we figured we'd stop real quick for a bite.
"So, would you ever consder going out with me?" he asked
"I have. I would love to." I replied
"Awesome." he said
He leaned in closer and I knew he was going to kiss me. I closed my eyes and kissed him back. The kiss was gentle and I really enjoyed it. That's when we both knew I had made my decision.