Chapter 2. Famous

The week passed by quickly and today was a start of a new school year. There was only one year left until I graduated, and I was off to college to pursue my culinary dreams. I checked myself out in the mirror before leaving my room and greeted my mom in the kitchen.

“Senior year,” she mused. “It seems like yesterday when you were just a small baby. Now you’re all grown up and ready to leave me behind.” She pretended to wipe her imaginary tears with her hands.

I rolled my eyes at her. “Seriously mother, there’s one whole year left. Besides, I’m not going anywhere. There are lots of colleges here that offer my dream course. Chill okay?”

“Aww, I’m just kidding sweetie. Now give your old lady a hug before going to school.” She opened her arms wide and smiled at me.

“How can I resist this old woman,” I joked before meeting her for a hug. “Enough with the drama mom. I need to go now or I’ll be late. I don’t want to break my all time record of arriving to school on time. It will tarnish my reputation,” I smirked.

“Remember what I told you about meeting a girl,” she reminded.

“Yeah, yeah. . . When I meet a girl I really like, I should introduce her to you first,” I recited.

“Good. . . Now get your butt to school. Oh, and say hi to Tim and Patty for me.”

“Okay mom,” I said before dashing out the door and going to my car. Sorry you had to see all that. You probably guessed it by now. My mom and I were super close. When my dad died eons ago, my mom did everything to raise me. She worked hard, kept us afloat, and taught me a lot of things in life. She was pretty open about my sexuality too. That was why when she told me that she wanted to switch jobs, I supported her just as she did when she found out I was gay. Now that she was successful, I was very happy for her.

I pulled over the school parking lot after a couple of minutes and grabbed my things before walking to the direction of the building. I checked the bulletin board before heading to my assigned locker for this year. Good. . . Tim and Patty were in most of my classes. It was going to be a breeze.

“Hey Dulce,” two girls greeted when I passed.

“Hi guys,” I said.

I continued walking. “Ssup Dulce?” four guys called out from my left.

“Doing great guys. Thanks,” I replied while nodding my head to them.

I tucked a stray hair behind my ear and let out a long breath. Mr. Cooper from Chemistry class passed me and greeted with his booming voice. “Dulce, my favorite student. How was summer?”

I had no choice but to return the greeting. “Great Mr. Coop, can’t wait for chemistry.” I pasted a smile on my face and quickly walked to the direction of my locker. I hoped no one else stops me, or I’d really be late for class.

Thankfully, I was able to reach my locker without anymore disruptions. I stuffed some of my books inside and was about to close it shut when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned, only to find Denise staring at me.

“Hi hot stuff,” she said.

“Denise,” I replied awkwardly.

“So what are you doing?”

“Uhhh. . . Placing things inside my locker?” I nearly rolled my eyes at her but decided against it. She wasn’t worth the trouble. After refusing me last year, I didn’t want to do anything with her.

She flipped her long blonde hair away from her face and raised her perfectly trimmed eyebrows at me. Yeah, I knew she was beautiful. That was why I fell for her in the first place. It was clearly a bad move. I should have judged the inside more than the looks.

“Well duh,” she said. “I can see that. Why are you so uptight around me Dulce?”

I stared at in disbelief. “Denise, you turned me down remember? Why are you acting like nothing happened?”

Denise glanced around before leaning close to me. “Shhh. . . Don’t let anyone hear that. You know what will happen if people find out that you’re gay. You’ll lose your popularity status. Forget that we ever had this conversation. Besides, I just want to be friends with you Dulce. I care for you a lot.”

“I don’t care about popularity Denise, and if you really think of me as a friend, then you’ll just leave me alone.” I shut my locker and left her standing there. Who was she kidding? Things were too awkward between us.

I reached my classroom in the nick of time. I scanned the room and found Tim and Patty waving at the back. They saved a seat for me, next to an empty one. I walked quickly to them and placed my bag on the floor.

“Oh my God Dulce, what took you so long?” Tim asked.

“Denise,” I said in frustration.

The two looked at each other before turning back to me. I knew that they understood what I meant when I said the name. Just as I’ve explained, Denise has been giving me mixed signals since forever.

“Forget about her Dulce, we have news for you,” Tim said in glee.

“What is it about? Wait; is it about a cooking contest? I’m so in! When is it?”

“You and your food Dulce,” Tim groaned. “As much as we love your cooking, no it’s not about that. It’s regarding Frio!” he squealed.

“Frio? That Hollywood celebrity? What does she have to do with anything?”

“You remember last week when we saw each other?” Tim asked. I nodded to him. How could I forget? It was also the day I met Glace, though she didn’t contact me after that. I groaned inwardly. I knew I should have asked for her number.

“Well Frio announced that she’s taking a break from the whole celebrity life after 10 years of being in the limelight. According to an interview she did that day for a magazine, Frio wants to experience a normal high school life, so she enrolled for this school year,” he shrieked in excitement.

“So?” I asked.

“What do you mean so?! That is a BIG deal Dulce because Frio enrolled here in our school! I don’t know why she chose ours. I mean, we’re one of the top schools in the district, but she could have gone to a private one. Maybe she really wants to experience a normal high school. Cross your fingers guys. By some stroke of luck, she’ll be our classmate.”

“Good luck with that,” I said. “Even if she did become our classmate, I doubt that she’d want anything to do with mere mortals like us.”

On cue, the bell rang loudly, signaling the start of a new school year. A few seconds later, our homeroom teacher entered. I just stared at my notebook and doodled Glace’s name with a question mark beside it. I didn’t even know her last name. If I did, I would have searched for her Twitter or Instagram already.

“Listen up,” the teacher said. “Someone new will be joining our class. Now I know that she has special circumstances, but I still want all of you to treat her as one of you. After all, she did enroll here for a normal high school experience. Frio, if you please.”

Someone entered the classroom, but I didn’t look up. The whole class erupted in cheers, even Patty and Tim beside me. The teacher tried to quiet the class down, but everyone spoke in hushed tones.

“Oh my God it’s her! I can’t believe this I’m going to die,” someone said in front.

I ignored them and shaded Glace’s name with my red marker. It was too early for this kind of craziness. On my right, Tim elbowed me hard. I glared at him before concentrating back to my notebook.

“This is my first time to attend a normal school,” the new girl began. “I’ve been home schooled and had private tutors all my life, so everything is new to me. I experienced a teensy bit of high school on set for movies, but other than that, I guess you can call me a noob.”

I blocked out the noise and thought about Glace’s face. Now that was a real beauty. If only I had the guts to ask her that one time, I wouldn’t feel this regret. I was so hopeless when it comes to love.

“Dulce,” the teacher called.

I ignored him and focused on my work. “Dulce,” he said again. The name didn’t register and I drew hearts all over the notebook.

“Dulce Gavin!” he bellowed.

The name finally connected to my brain and I stood up without thinking. “Yes Mr. Harris? I’m so sorry I didn’t hear you,” I said in a rush, my face reddening in embarrassment.

“If I have your undivided attention now, I just want to tell you that Frio will be sitting next to you. I want you to show her around the school when you have the chance. If she has difficulties with anything, then you have to help her. Everyone knows you’re popular and a straight-A student, so you won’t have problems with my request. Is that clear?”

“Yes Mr. Harris,” I said before turning to the girl named Frio.

My jaw dropped when I saw who he was referring to. “Glace?” I asked out loud.

“Hey stranger,” she murmured under her breath, but I understood the movement of her lips. My eyes connected to her coffee colored ones and once again, I got lost in the depth of them. Like the first time we met, my heart pounded hard against my chest.

“What are you doing here?” I blurted out. She didn’t answer and just gave me a poker face.

“What the F*ck Dulce, do you know her?!” Tim murmured beside me. I ignored him and glanced at Glace again.

“Okay Frio, you can sit beside her now. There’s an empty desk there so make yourself comfortable,” the teacher instructed.

Without any questions, Glace went beside me and sat gracefully. Everyone whispered with each other while I just openly stared at her. “What are you doing here Glace?” I asked again.

She acted like she didn’t hear anything and just looked ahead. I did the same and sat back on my chair. I didn’t know what was going on, but this was definitely confusing. Everyone called her Frio. Frio? As in the celebrity Frio, or another one? Wait. . . I thought her name was Glace. What is this, the Twilight Zone?

The homeroom teacher said a couple more things in front, but I didn’t pay attention. I was too dizzy thinking about Glace and the whole Frio thing to listen. When lunchtime came, everyone stood up, including Tim and Patty, but I didn’t. Glace quickly walked out of the classroom, a couple of my classmates already trailing behind her.

“Let’s go Dulce! She’s getting away. I really want to meet her,” Tim said.

“Go ahead guys, I’m not really hungry.”

Patty stared at me with concern in her eyes. “Are you okay Dulce? Why did you mention Glace’s name when you saw Frio?”

They probably wouldn’t believe me even if I say that they were the same person. “Nothing. . . I’m just out of it guys. I’m sorry. . . You can go to the cafeteria now before all the best food is taken. I’ll stay here and sleep a little. I didn’t get enough of it last night,” I lied.

They nodded and darted out of the room, in search of their precious celebrity idol. I slumped on the chair. I couldn’t believe at what was happening. I met the girl of my dreams again, but she turned out to be this super famous person. To make it worse, she didn’t even acknowledge me.

It was too embarrassing. First there was Denise, and now Glace pretended not to know me. I was having such a bad luck. Maybe I should give up with being a lesbian and just get a boyfriend.

As if that would work! I wasn’t really interested in guys. Never had, and never will be. I’d probably be a loser lez who didn’t have anyone. I’d just adopt a cat and name her Grumpy. At least someone would accompany me while I grow old.

“Why the long face stranger?” someone spoke beside me.

I looked up to see coffee colored eyes staring at me. “Glace? I thought you went out?”

“Nah. . . I just dispersed the crowd a little. Back to my question- why are you sad?”

“Nothing really. . .” I couldn’t tell her that I felt confused because of her. “Hey, you remember me?”

“Of course I remember that beautiful face,” she said huskily. My face flushed in embarrassment.

“Then why did you ignore me earlier?”

“Oh that. . . I tend to do that a lot in front of other people. That’s why they call me the Ice Princess,” she murmured the last line to herself. “Wait, is that why you’re sad?”

“A little,” I admitted.

“I didn’t mean to offend you Dulce. I just can’t let my guard down with everyone looking at us like that.”

I smiled widely at her. “You’re forgiven because you remembered my name.”

She gaped at me with her mouth open for a few seconds. I felt a little awkward so I waved my hands in front of her. “Glace? Why are you staring at me like that?”

She averted her gaze quickly and stared down. Her ears and cheek turned bright pink. She was so cute, but why was she blushing? I asked her the same question. “You look a little feverish Glace, is everything okay?”

“Don’t mind me. I just feel a little hot, that’s all.” She gave a shaky laugh.

“I see. . . By the way, something’s been bothering me. Why did you tell me your name is Glace? Everyone calls you Frio and I don’t really get that.”

She let out a sigh before answering me. “My real name is Glace McKenzie. Frio is just my stage persona that people from Hollywood created. Not a lot of people know me as Glace, even my diehard fans, so just call me that when we’re alone like this. I don’t want everyone running around screaming my birth name.”

“Why did you give me your real name then? You could have just told me outright that you’re Frio,” I said with a blush, thinking about the way I pulled her inside my car. If I’d known she was a celebrity, I wouldn’t have done that.

“It’s because you didn’t appear to recognize me Dulce. You don’t watch a lot of TV do you? Most people would have easily known me at a single glance. I did wear my disguise that day, but I removed it in the car. Aside from that, you looked a bit innocent so I couldn’t help it.”

“I only watch cooking shows,” I explained. “And what do you mean by innocent? I’m not like that,” I argued.

She rolled her eyes, making me notice her thick lashes. “Chill okay? I meant that in a good way. You’re not like any of my followers and I like that about you. You make me feel like a real person instead of a product or a piece of meat.”

The bell rang loudly before I could even reply, signaling the end of lunch. Students streamed like water inside the room, including my two best friends. Because of that, my conversation with Glace was interrupted, and she pretended not to know me again.

I stared in front of the classroom as the teacher entered. Tim leaned near me. “So did you get that sleep?” he asked.

“Uh huh,” I whispered back.

“Good. But next time, let’s talk to Frio. I’m dying to be her friend.”

“Okay sure. Whatever. . .” I said in a hushed tone so the teacher wouldn’t catch us.

After the conversation, the teacher started the lesson and I tried to concentrate on what he was saying. I also tried to pretend that Glace was not sitting beside me, but it was hard considering that she smelled good like that day in the café.

I still did my best to ignore her the whole time since she didn’t want to acknowledge me herself. When the last class ended, Glace quickly got her books and stood from her chair. Before she walked away, she whispered something to me, making my cheeks blush beet red.

“Nice doodle by the way,” she said and strolled out of the room, her tons of followers marching right behind her. I glanced down at my notebook and saw my drawing of Glace’s name with hearts and all. I completely forgot that it was there.

“Oh boy,” I muttered. “This is going to be an interesting school year.”