Chances: How many chances do you get to do something right? Chapter I: He Is A Man The last time Eric Delko had been this scared was when he was sixteen years old. Exactly fifteen years ago. Stalling for time, he recalled the events of that day. His mother and father were immediately called to the school office because their son was in trouble. He wasn’t scared of what punishment he’d get at home or at school. He was more scared of his parents finding out what he had done. Eric, terrified but with still red tinted cheeks, was seated directly across from the angry form of his high school principal. After waiting about twenty minutes in an anger-filled room, his parents arrived, practically running down the hall to see their son. As soon as they were directed to be seated, the principal stood up and began her never-ending speech. “I do not allow such lewd, immoral acts to be committed in this institution,” she began. Eric’s parents were clearly confused, so she continued, “Your son has violated a young woman under the bleachers this afternoon...” “Hey, she violated me. It’s not like she didn’t want it!” Eric interjected, clearly satisfied with his acts. “I will not let any of my students participate in obscene, impure, and unconventional behavior on my school property,” she quickly replied. “For the record, ma’am, this isn’t your property, and I’m pretty sure they get the point,” Eric said. “Young man, this is not the time for you to be smart with that mouth of yours,” his mother yelled. “She’s only mad cause she hasn’t gotten laid in years,” Eric murmured, but it was clearly audible to his father, who surprisingly chuckled at his remark. The meeting continued until the principal ran out of things to say. His mother was clearly infuriated and started to babble words in Spanish about “getting it when he gets home.” His father proudly patted him on the back whispering, “Now, son, you are a man, but don’t tell your mother I said that.” He broke away from his reverie with a satisfied smirk on his face. Thoughts of what he was about to attempt once again filled his mind and his smirk dissipated as anxiety flooded him. Yes, he was terrified of his parents finding out about his “experiments” that day, but he realized that this was nothing in comparison to that. This involved Calleigh Duquesne. The woman he’d known for nearly a decade. The woman who had been friends with him since the day they met. The woman who he’d been falling in love with more and more with each passing day. More importantly, the woman who owned a huge gun collection. Eric recalled what his father had told him and started a mantra to himself, at least he thought it was just to himself. “I AM A MAN! I can do this! I know I can! She’s just a girl, and I AM A MAN!” He repeated these words over and over again, until he heard a burst of laughter from the door. He was immobile, horrified with embarrassment, and absolutely dreading having to face the person who caught him off guard. He turned around, slowly, and watched as Calleigh continued to laugh hysterically. When she finally managed to calm down, she began to speak, but Eric interrupted her. Now or never. “Calleigh… do you like me?” he blurted out. She, having somewhat of an idea where this conversation was going to lead to, stopped her giggling, and mocked his unexplainable nervousness, “Eric… if I didn’t like you, then I’m certain you and I wouldn’t be friends.” “Umm… you’re right, but I what I meant was do you ‘like me’ like me?” he replied, more scared than he was earlier. “Okay, you’re either really deaf, really stupid, or both. Whatever one it is, I don’t care, but I already said that I liked you, that’s why we’re friends,” she replied, amused. He gave up. He knew that if he wanted to get anything out of her, he had to ask her directly. He knew this whole situation amused her, and who could blame her? If there was some fool in front of him, acting like he did, he’d certainly find it funny, unless it was Calleigh, of course. After a minute of uncomfortable silence, he asked, “Calleigh Duquesne, would you like to go out to dinner with me?” “Like on a date?” she asked, although already knowing both his response and her actual answer. He was getting frustrated, not at her, but at himself. It’s been a long, stressful day, and with every passing moment, his apprehension grew, his embarrassment increased, and his ego shrank. Eric Delko is a MAN! If he could get this right with other women, why did it have to mess up when he was talking to the love of his life? “Yes, that’s exactly what I meant,” he replied rather coldly. “If I had to choose which one of us was being deaf and stupid, it’d be you,” he added, frustrated, before he could stop himself. His response was totally unexpected. Caught off guard, Calleigh was unsure of how she should feel. Did she expect this to be the outcome of an amusing flirtation? Definitely not. Was she hurt? Yes, in every way possible. Was she scared? More than she’d care to admit. Was she disappointed? Without a doubt, yes. But whatever she felt inside, the only thing that showed through her eyes was anger. Eric was a man, alright... a STUPID man! How could he mess up his relationship with her before it even started? If he was scared before, he certainly was now. The only thing that would make him feel better is if he could go back in time, smack himself on the head, and fix what he just did. Since that was impossible, the only other choices were either to run away and hide or just die, right where he was standing, which wasn’t entirely implausible with Calleigh looking at him the way she was. He’d rather hand Calleigh a gun and let her shoot him with it, instead of seeing the anger in her eyes. Yes, he was stupid. “Cal… I’m so sorry,” he began his apologies, but Calleigh stopped him. “I have some paper work to do,” she said, holding back the anger that rushed through her body. “Cal, I’m so-” he tried again, but it was to no avail. “You can be such an ass, you know that? I can’t believe I was actually thinking about saying… Never mind, I guess it doesn’t matter anymore.” With that, Calleigh stormed out of the break room and headed for her lab, leaving Eric feeling… well, it didn’t matter how he felt right now. She felt a slight satisfaction in leaving him how he was, squirming at his mistakes, but that satisfaction didn’t make up for the anger she felt towards him.
Yey. We don't ahve neough E/C fics on here. And all mine get ignored, so I stoped posting :lol: But keep it up! Jodie xx
Hi! I really like this...had me laughing at the funny moments! Can't wait to find out what happens next.